Surprise Meeting with Fate (and Your Eyes)
by TheDarkFlygon
Summary: Shuichi had forever known the universal rule of his world: everyone had a soulmate and it was the biggest deal ever. Shuichi also thought he didn't have a soulmate. He didn't want one. He already had many problems with peoplen. That was, until he tried to solve the events behind the ransacking of pianist Kaede Akamatsu's bedroom. [No-Desp, Saimatsu, Momoharu, Tenmiko, Gonta/Kirumi]
1. A Fateful Day

It was meant to happen, someday.

Shuichi knew about that soulmate thing, he really did. He knew, from very early on, everyone had a "soulmate" whom they would meet one day. It was "bound" to happen. Everybody and everything was dealing with it one day: from his favourite shows to cases he was helping on, there usually was something about soulmates.

Killing your soulmate because you couldn't be with them. Arranging meeting with your soulmate. Killing your soulmate's mate because otherwise you couldn't be with said soulmate. Dating your soulmate. Killing your soulmate's parents so you could be with your soulmate. Finding someone's soulmate's pet (yes, even if it was an alligator). Pretending to be someone's soulmate when it wasn't the case.

Soulmate drama. Soulmate murders. Soulmate suicides. Soulmate cereals. Soulmate stories. Soulmate merchandise. Soulmate legends. Soulmate divinities. Soulmate dating sims. Soulmate myths. Soulmate rituals. Soulmate advertisement.

Everything in this world was linked to soulmates because it was _such_ a big deal, it seemed.

Shuichi didn't really care about dating. Not that he was a natural loner: life just decided he would be one. He had his uncle, his aunt, and his best friend. And that was enough. He was perfectly fine with his uncle, his aunt and Kaito Momota, astronaut trainee prodigy.

And he, also, didn't have a soulmate. Not that he even cared about _that_.

Sure, Kaito would tell him on a daily basis how lonely he was. And maybe it was his fault: Shuichi was, undeniably, shyer than anything that had ever graced this town. He didn't like talking first in discussions, he didn't dare going up to people, he didn't know how not to fluster once asked something personal like his opinions.

Honestly, he was just scared people would eventually abandon him. He knew it was both irrational and grounded in his reality: Kaito had never given up on him, even when the astronaut had found his own soulmate, but on the other hand, he had been given up on by who was supposed to be the closest to him until he was an adult.

When, in fact, Shuichi was barely an adult, and had no real mother or father.

When he thought about his potential soulmate, he just hoped he or she wouldn't be a fan of his parents. How many remarks had he gotten over the years about that? "The Saiharas are very famous people in the show business, how come you don't like being in the spotlight?".

Shuichi didn't like acting, even less lying. He knew how to lie, that wasn't the question, but he hated lying, because his parents were at their core filthy liars. Not because his father was an actor, or because his mother could pretend to be characters to write them better, but because they had told him they would be there for him.

When, in fact, they had never been there for him.

So, yeah, Shuichi was pretty damn happy about not having a soulmate. Someone he wouldn't have to cry over once they were gone. Or once they would have realized they weren't what they wanted out of a boyfriend, or even deeper, a husband. All he had was the capacity to solve murders by luck anyway. He wasn't the Prince Charming sold by the soulmate dramas and love stories from TV and cinema.

And especially not those his parents wrote and acted in. Those were way too cutesy for the harsh reality that was a world corrupted to the core with a false idealisation of passion and unshared love.

But nobody didn't have a soulmate. Deep down, he knew he just "hadn't met the right person".

He didn't even know what gender to look for. Or, rather, what gender to be weary of. He hadn't really wondered about his sexuality too much, but if something was rather clear to him, it was that boys and girls meant the same to him. Whether or not it meant he was asexual or bisexual was, also, beyond him. It was hard to tell, when he hadn't ever really felt in love. Just felt some weird attraction to that one trickster from his high school class, his best friend, and finding some girls pretty cute here and there.

It was all just words anyway.

Because it all came crashing down on him like a person-sized thundercloud full of painful hail.

There was this one case, he was investing upon on his own. Nothing big: something precious had been stolen from a famous pianist. According to her statements, it was a pair of clef-shaped earrings offered to her by her twin sister, a pearl choker and a hairpiece with an opal in it. His task wasn't to find out where the jewellery was: it was what had happened in the ransacked room.

His cap firmly set to avoid looking into people's eyes, Shuichi read again the case file before starting his investigation. There was a picture of the victim, who looked quite pretty he had to admit, and all the information he already known, plus some details here and there. He just wondered, deep down, how he had gotten this case and not a famously known detective with the prestige of a royal palace.

It was clear very quickly that the culprit knew what they were doing: only her bedroom had been ransacked, with nothing touched upon other than the broken window and the violated chest of drawers in which, he guessed, the jewellery had been kept by its owner.

He rubbed his temples. That headache really didn't want to leave, and the room was freezing. He supposed the victim hadn't slept in there since the theft: after all, who would? The window was more or less wide opened at any time of the day and there was still a risk. He just wished he had worn more on him, even if it was a normal spring day.

The sound of heels coming towards him got him out of his thought process as he was inspecting the floor for possible hair left behind on the crime scene by the thief. Maybe the client had hired a better detective than him. That meant he could go back to bed because, frankly, being sick while investigating sucked.

He was just there because he knew that case was very important to the victim, mostly because of how emotionally charged and meaningful the stolen items were, so it was only normal of him not to let her down. It was a simple question of decency. He had just thought it would be worth it, even if it meant going to work with a harsh fever.

And just that. A fever. A fever he didn't even feel the symptoms of before actually coming to that place. Not even a cough. Aside from the dizziness and the throbs against his temples, that was it, he was fine.

Shuichi turned his head towards the incoming person. He didn't need to raise his gaze to know it was the victim herself, standing there, dressed in warm pinks and purples. Her legs were pretty slim, even if they were hidden under wool leggings.

"Excuse me, Mr Saihara?"

He tried his best to sound polite and, well, fine: "Yes?"

Her bust and face entered his field of vision. She was prettier than the photo was telling of her: added to her sweet perfume, her blond hair complimented her pinkish purple eyes perfectly. She really was a beautiful woman, he wondered how she wasn't dating anyone yet. Information he knew because, when she had been interrogated, she had insisted on not having had any previous romantic partner who could have stolen the jewellery from her.

"By chance, have you found anything? The place is a mess, so I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't…"

"I have one or two clues," he replied in all honesty, "but no solid hypothesis yet. I'm sorry."

She nodded her head with a small, reassuring smile.

"No, no, it's okay. Don't apologize, I know you're doing your best. You've been here for a couple hours without saying a single word, after all."

Shuichi looked at his watch, unsure. He really had spent a few hours in there. He wished he had found more than that for how long it had been, but that would have to do for the moment being.

The pianist kneeled next to him.

"Say, what don't you have a break? It's soon noon anyway, and I'm sure you won't be as effective on an empty stomach."

He wasn't feeling any hungry, but if it meant he could slip an ibuprofen in his drink, then he'd take it.

"If you don't mind, that is…" she added, her voice trailing off.

"I guess I have to take a break here and there," he replied fairly. "Especially if you propose it so kindly to me."

"Then, come with me to my living room!"

Shuichi just followed. He wasn't sure how he was going to eat anything, even if he still had the luck to retain his sense of smell and taste, because his appetite was just completely gone. On the quick way to her living room, he just popped his inhaler and took a puff of it. Because there was no way he was having an asthma attack on the job when he had forgotten to take his medicine in the morning.

"Wait, you're asthmatic?" she asked, noticing immediately.

Was that what they had meant by "she has exceptional hearing"? He swore he had been stealthy and that wasn't looking.

"Oh, huh, yeah. That doesn't prevent me from investigating though, don't worry."

"It'd be terrible if you got an attack on the job. Please be careful, okay?"

"I'll do."

Wasn't the detective supposed to make sure the victim was safe and not the opposite way around?

They finally arrived in the living room, where she invited him to sit down on the leather sofa. Her house really was fancy: it really showed how famous she actually was.

"Would you like some tea?" she offered him.

"Sure, why not."

Shuichi allowed himself to breathe out. A cup of tea would allow him to take a pill for his growing headache.

The pianist sat down next to him a couple minutes later, putting a small tray on the coffee table next to them.

"We haven't been introduced properly, no? I wasn't home yet when you arrived to investigate. I'm Kaede Akamatsu. You may have heard of me for my piano recitals. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He had forgotten her name, because he hadn't heard of her before this case. Oops.

"I'm Shuichi Saihara, detective-in-training. Usually, I'm a literature student, but… You can just consider me a detective, considering today's situation. Pleasure to meet you too."

Her face mixes both worry and joy. It's a weird bittersweet combination of an expression.

"If you don't mind me, I have a question to ask you," he tells her, nervous about something.

"Sure thing! What do you need from me?"

"Why haven't you hired a more famous detective? You specifically hired me from my uncle's office, according to the letter I got."

A soft giggle escaped her lips.

"I thought most detectives would accept just for the potential sum I'd give at the end. According to the agency you work for, you mostly work on the side to pay for your studies and your loan. I'm sure you'll use this money in much better ways than anyone else I could have hired thanks to my fame."

That made him smile.

"Thank you for trusting in my work. I'll try not to disappoint."

"I'm sure you won't, Mr Saihara."

Lunch was a bit awkward. He clearly was forcing himself to eat, taking a second headache medicine pill with a glass of water. He had to admit, this Mrs Akamatsu wasn't half-bad at cooking. She was miles over his. It was even winning over his fever, at one point, but he didn't know if it was his mind screaming at him to eat or else she'd ask questions or if it was genuinely this appetizing.

He let her do most of the talking. Not only was he uncomfortable saying whatever was on his mind, while she was joyfully chatting about piano and her family, he was starting to feel fairly lightheaded, as if blood was rising to his head. He was, at that point, just grateful she wasn't requesting him to take off his cap despite the fact they were seating at a table eating lunch.

In the early afternoon, Shuichi excused himself out of lunch to investigate again. Honestly, he had forgotten most of what he had seen on the morning: his notes, fortunately, saved him. He had sent the hair and fingerprints he had found on the furniture and floor to the lab already, so he should probably investigate outside.

But when he got up from his seat, he accidentally looked into her eyes, and the blood finished reaching to his head. There were stars throbbing before his eyes. That probably wasn't supposed to happen, but he figured that was his fever playing tricks on him.

He lost his balance, and before he knew it, his cap had fallen to the ground and his client's arms were supporting him, gently sitting him down on the sofa again. That was way too embarrassing for him not to look away, but his head was such a dizzy mess, all he had in mind was daze. His idiot streak of rebel hair was probably either pointing up from his head idiotically or pointing down, because really, he wasn't feeling so good anymore.

Mrs Akamatsu sat down next to him and put a warm hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worry dripping in her previously joyful voice.

"I… I just got up too fast, that's… nothing big…"

God did he hate to lie, but he hated being unable to solve a case more than he hated lying.

Sweat was drenching his back, sure, but there was something wrong. He didn't know what, he just knew he shouldn't had been so dizzy previously for just a fever and getting up a bit too fast. Breathing was difficult too, and he knew it couldn't be his asthma.

And there was a burning pain in his veins.

And that was when Shuichi realized, he had never known how Kaito had discovered Maki was his soulmate and vice-versa.

Looking at his wrist, while muting grunts of pain as much as possible, he noticed something which wasn't there before. Written in gold was the name of his client. Written in gold was the name "Kaede Akamatsu". Someone he had, in short, barely met turned out to be his goddamn soulmate.

Now that was a twist he had not only not expected, but which was also destroying any hope he had in never finding said soulmate.

Once the pain had subdued, he no longer felt lightheaded. Was the fever due to him being around his soulmate? (Still, what a weird thing to think.) She hadn't seemed to be doing too bad earlier, well, before he had worried her at least. Did it magically heal his fever? That'd be too good, and an advantage to having found the worst source of pain possible.

Shuichi looked at the blonde woman next to him. She was holding her left wrist with her right hand and staring into his eyes with glassy irises and reddened sclerae. Tears were still around the corner of her glaze.

"You…" she whispered, looking angered. Or pained? He wasn't sure.

After all, anyone would be angry to learn he was their soulmate. She was no exception.

"Is your first name Shuichi…?"

He gulped. His throat was knotted in a noose.

"…Yes."

Kaede sighed.

"I guess this is how it is, huh," she said. "I never thought I'd met them today. Not in these conditions, at least."

A small smile appeared on her face.

"At least, I'm relieved my soulmate's a good person. I was scared they were going to be a delinquent, or abusive, or even worse, a murderer. I know you're not like that, Shuichi. I… can call you Shuichi, at least? You can call me Kaede."

"Sure…"

"You were willing to help me without really knowing who I was, right?"

He looked away.

"It's embarrassing to admit, but I didn't know you were at all before I got the case request… Maybe I've heard your music before, but that's it, really…"

"You're a broke student according to your agency, and yet you still didn't see the case as an opportunity to get famous or gain money. You're something entirely different, Shuichi."

"You're not… offended that I didn't see you as a celebrity?"

Kaede blinked, obviously surprised.

"Of course I'm not! Why would I be? I wish I wouldn't be considered a celebrity anyway. I'm even happy you see me as a person more than a celebrity!"

Shuichi was astonished by her reaction. That wasn't what he was used to, clearly. He was used to people whining about not getting recognized in the streets, not people wanting not to get recognized in the same streets. Who'd want to be incognito?

"Well… I guess my parents are another kind of celebrities altogether. They always wanted more fame and to be celebrated by fans and critics alike. I assumed most, if not all famous people were like that. Sorry for assuming that was your case, Kaede."

"Your parents are famous? That may be why your name reminded me of something… I guess we're both more or less linked to fame, then. Me because I got famous thanks to piano, you because your parents are famous. But I think we should push that to the side."

He didn't know what to say. For once, someone wasn't asking him why he didn't want to be famous. That hadn't happened since he had met Maki, through Kaito, back in high school. It felt incredibly nice.

"I don't know what'll happen to us now," Kaede continued. "You may already be in a relationship, after all. I wouldn't want to ruin that."

"I'm not. I've never been in a relationship at all, actually. Well, a romantic one I mean…."

She put a hand on his tight.

"Then… Why not keep in contact and get to know each other this afternoon? I'm sure you've investigated enough today. Even if we don't date each other, we can still be friends. I'm sure it'll work out well!"

Shuichi was so numbed by relief that he could only nod as he smiled.

Yet, Kaede's face was still bittersweet. How could it be?

"Something's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just wondering about something… My wrist hurt when we looked into each other's eyes, but I didn't go dizzy like you did. How come?"

"Huh… It may be because I was…"

Shuichi's voice stops. Should he lie again, or shouldn't he? He decided that, as opposed to his soulmate parents, he wouldn't like to his.

"I was running a fever when I came here. I think it calmed down, though."

Without a word, she puts a hand on her forehead, then on his.

"You're a bit warmer than I am, so it's probably not too bad. Still, I don't think you should investigate when you're feverish. Why don't we go out for a bit, so we can make some chit-chat? I can even play something for you later!"

"It sounds lovely… Let's do this."

They got up from the sofa at the same time, grabbed some outerwear and went outside.

Shuichi still took the time to make sure the bedroom couldn't be accessed from the broken window, to Kaede's amusement.


	2. Building Trust

To be honest, when he woke up that morning, Shuichi had forgotten about two things: the name of his soulmate written on his wrist, and that he had made a fool of himself in front of his roommate.

The weirdest for Shuichi was to think he didn't need to be weary of who his soulmate was anymore. There was no more avoiding other people's gaze to avoid getting a name written in golden letters on his wrist. All there was anymore, was to find how to deal with it in the company of his soulmate herself, the ever-so-pretty Kaede Akamatsu.

And what a soulmate she was. They were different in every single aspect he could have thought of: she was an extravert, beautiful, charming, popular and brave; he was an introvert, shy, plain-looking, lonely and cowardly. She was shining, he was buried in his own shadows. There was no way they were any compatible, yet there they were, somehow soulmates.

Of course, Kaito had gotten hold of the information easily. It started with how Shuichi had replied to a text message from the astronaut trainee: "I'm with a client, but it looks more like a date than anything else". It had picked Kaito's curiosity: Shuichi Saihara, speaking about a date? It meant he was both outside and with someone else his best friend didn't know about. It was interesting, fascinating, exciting to uncover.

One thing was for sure: Kaito hadn't missed the most embarrassing part of the day. Kaede had accompanied Shuichi to his place on the way back from the "date", mostly because his fever had risen again from the surprise overexertion he had wanted to avoid. At first, he had refused, but she had kept insisting and he had eventually given in to her pleas and to how bad he felt after a while of walking around and make small talk with a girl way out of his league.

It would had been humiliating enough, would had Kaito not stepped on Kaede taking care of his roommate in bed. Sure, Kaito had seen Shuichi in many embarrassing situations, from delirious and calling for his uncle to ugly tears of frustration at grades, but there had never been such a thing between the two of them.

And that was more than enough for Shuichi to barely be able to look at his own roommate as they were eating breakfast.

"Hey, bro…" Kaito broke the ice starting to freeze the table as he dipped his slice of bread in his hot chocolate.

"What…? You're going to tease me again…?"

"No, I know yesterday bothered you and all, so… I wanted to ask you if you were okay."

Shuichi rose his eyes, puzzled.

"Just that? Then… I guess I'm fine, I'm just… weirded out by everything, lately…"

Kaito put a hand under his friend's bangs, inspecting his temperature closely by then putting his on his own forehead.

"That girl was right, you're still warm, Shuichi. You overworked yourself again on a case? I thought we had made a point, yesterday."

"Nah, I think it's just a leftover of me being sick yesterday… You don't need to skip classes for me over it, Kaito…"

"It's like you can read minds, bro! Seriously, you should take the day off, you look like crap man."

"Thank you for the compliment…"

Shuichi's nose dived right into his coffee before he knew it. He heard his roommate sigh.

"C'mon, let's bring you back to bed, this ain't gonna work…"

And once again, before he was even conscious of it, he was getting dragged to his room and to his bed. By chance, he had forgotten to get dressed, so he was still in his pyjamas anyway.

"You're stubborn as hell, man…" Kaito said in another sigh. "If only you knew how to stay in bed as well as you knew your English literature, everything'd be better for everyone involved."

"You have class soon, Kaito, you should be going instead of staying here…"

"Yeah, I know that," he got his phone out, "that's why I'm calling you someone!"

His face was probably already pale from the natural tint of barely going outside, but Shuichi felt himself get even paler.

"W-what someone…? Maki?"

Which implied he was going to get a very bad time for being crap at taking care of himself.

"Kirumi?"

Which implied he was going to be bombarded with questions about his self-care or be met with an awkward silence.

"Gonta?"

Which implied he was going to get smothered in strong hugs and weird natural remedies nobody else but Himiko, Kirumi or him would trust in.

"My uncle?"

Which implied he was going to be forced to take an actual day off and get a paternal scolding with it.

Kaito scoffed in amusement.

"Naaah," he replied as he picked a pink sticky note from the bedside table, "I'm calling that girl from yesterday. She seemed adamant to know you more!"

Oh no. That implied even worse things for him.

"Don't do that! Kaede has so much more stuff to worry about than me…!"

He coughed, to which Kaito handed him a bunch of pills and a glass of water.

"Take your medicine before you talk about your well-being, bro. I hate reversing the roles, y'know."

Shuichi took the medicine and glass with a slight smile, a soft "thank you" and took the pills. He had, also, forgotten about his asthma. Moments later, he saw his best friend type down the number on the sticky note Kaede had left there the day before "so he wouldn't forget to call her back and give her his number" right before he had fallen asleep.

"Hello? It's Shuichi's best friend, Kaito Momota! We've seen each other yesterday after you brought my bro home."

He nodded before smiling wildly.

"Yeah, I'm doing great! But I have to leave for my training soon, could you take care of Shuichi for me today? He's still tired and sick, and I'm scared he's going to go to work-and-or-class anyway if I leave him alone. I can repay you the favour another day!"

He showed an even wider grin after a minute or so.

"You really can?! Thank you so much! I'll slip the flat's door key under the rug, okay? If you really can't, ring the bell, Shuichi'll come to open to you. Thanks again, Kaede! You're saving us big trouble there!"

Kaito hung up and looked at his flatmate.

"Heard that? Your girlfriend's gonna come here to take care of you for the day!"

"Kaito… Kaede isn't my girlfriend, and I've already told you, she's a busy pianist who has other stuff to do than taking care of than me…"

"Sorry, bro, can't hear you over the sound of your blooming romance! I'll be going now, don't wanna be late to my training y'know! Plus my cab's already here, and I can't let my Maki Roll wait for me! See ya tonight, take care!"

With that, Shuichi heard the entrance door to the flat slam behind his best friend, and that was it. How was he supposed to go to work if Kaede was to come here? He hadn't even warned his uncle's office about taking a day off, same for his professors! It wasn't too late, he figured, as he just laid back in bed again.

He took his own phone, turned it on and dialled the necessary numbers. What a chore, especially since he hated phoning people, but also lacked the motivation to write them emails they wouldn't read in time anyway.

"Hello? Ah, Uncle Shinichi, it's… It's Shuichi…" He gulped. "How do you know I'm sick…? I haven't gone to the doctor yet…! Huh, my voice? I guess it's weak today… I'm sorry, I don't think I can come to work with my roommate keeping an eye on me… It's fine with you? Thanks, Uncle… I'll do… Have a nice day…"

"Hello, sir? It's Shuichi Saihara, in second year in the Literature and Human Sciences course… It's to inform you I won't be here today… I know, I have a presentation due on tomorrow, I'll be there… Oh, don't worry sir, I'm just sick, I should be fine by tomorrow… No, I've not gone to a doctor yet… I'll do, sir… Have a good day, sir…"

A sigh of relief exited his lips. It seemed like it was okay for him to be missing for a day, even if it bothered him to no end. What was he supposed to do on a Tuesday when he had nothing to do but look at the ceiling? Maybe he should get dressed and go to a doctor, that could be useful…

As he got dressed and made his way to the living room-kitchen hybrid he shared with Kaito to recover some stuff to go, he came right by a now familiar face and her bright, charming, spell-casting smile. Goddammit. His legs felt like jelly, probably from his lingering fever.

He couldn't help but look at what she was wearing. A dusky pink coat, wool leggings and heeled boots with laces tied in a knot at their top. She looked, as always when it came to her it seemed, lovely. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, hidden behind her back, buried under a beanie with a pompom on top of it. Why was he even studying her outfit when he couldn't have cared less about Kaito's extravagant shirts, stellar jackets and galaxy-printed boxers?

Kaede let out a small "oh" of surprise when she turned back from locking the door, before beaming him another magical smile.

"Hello, Shuichi! How are you?"

"Ah, huh, hello Kaede… I'm… fine, I guess…"

"Your roommate called me, telling me you were still sick… You were planning to go somewhere?"

"To the doctor, actually. I'll need a medical certificate if I want to justify skipping class today…"

She took off her gloves, walked up to him and put her own palm on his forehead, just as he put on his coat.

"He was right, you're still warm. Let's get you to a doctor, okay? My car's parked in front of the building. It won't take us more than a few minutes to get to one."

He just nodded, because he was getting a bit dizzy. Once he had made sure to get all the stuff he needed, he went downstairs with her, waving a tiny hello to Rantaro who was making his way to college.

Once in her car, Shuichi noticed a few things, and that despite his daze. The outside wasn't pink: in fact, it was white, so it was discreet, fortunately so. The interior was black, slim, decorated with clef-shaped and note-alike items.

"Welcome to my little car!" Kaede greeted him to the passenger seat. "Do you mind if I put on some music? I like to have some background noise while I drive, and I won't force you to chat with me if you're sick."

"I don't mind…"

She turned on the car and started driving off.

They were, barely moments after that, at the nearest doctor's office. The waiting room wasn't too busy, but there were still a few people before them, including a grandmother who accompanied her ill, crying grandson and an expecting couple, probably there for a small check-up or, rather, for the ill-looking husband who still had something in the corner of his mouth.

There was something weird with doctor offices, and it was how you felt sicker when you waited for them. At first, Shuichi thought it would be a good occasion to finish reading the novel he had started and which he had forgotten in his overcoat's pocket. However, he quickly realized he felt drowsy and had trouble focusing on anything, so he slipped the book in his pocket again and made a mental note to read it later.

"Shuichi?"

Kaede softly called for him, looking at him with soft eyes, when he noticed he was lulling on her shoulder. He jumped back into a proper position, embarrassed.

"S-sorry for that…! I didn't realize I was starting to fall sleep…"

"It's fine. You look tired, so I don't mind you sleeping on my shoulder if it's more comfortable than the seat. It's our turn soon, that's why I was calling for you."

"Oh, okay… Thanks for telling me, I'll try staying awake until we're called…"

Minutes later, they were both called into the doctor's actual office. That was when his senses started to get a bit foggy from the fatigue. He didn't even wonder about what use what he was getting asked to do could possibly serve towards a diagnosis of his condition.

The doctor excused himself for separating Shuichi from Kaede, bringing him in the nearby examination room. It did a perfect job at looking as such: white walls, tools, smell of disinfectant products, examination table. He sat down on the latter upon being prompted to do so.

"Mr Saihara, please open take off your shirt so I can start examining you."

It's with a bit of shyness and a will not to unveil too much that he started unbuttoning his shirt, eventually taking it off. He hoped Kaede wasn't peeking: he was slender at best and scrawny at worst. Wait, why would he think she was even attracted to him to begin with? He was nothing but a stick. She couldn't be a pervert either, so there was no point in being afraid of that. Huh. That sure was weird.

Tongue checking, ear checking, heartbeats, breathing cycles, coughing, eye checking, temperature… It got weirder when the doctor requested to take his measurements after allowing him to put on his shirt again: weight, height, basic information from his medical files. He still shrugged it off: maybe it was needed for medicine doses.

Once all of this was done, the doctor invited him to go back to the main room, where Kaede had patiently waited for him. He wanted to tell her she shouldn't have waited for him, that it wasn't much, but he was still happy to see she was still there, for some reason. Moreover, she still had a slight, soft smile to give him that never failed to warm him up, even if they had known each other for two days.

He'd have to investigate why she had such a strong impact on him. The last time it had happened, he had just met Kaito, in high school, when the latter invited himself to his table at lunch because "you shouldn't be eating alone, man, even if I don't know you".

Was that what it meant to have a soulmate?

"Mr Saihara," the doctor called him back to reality, "I need to ask you a few questions before I can make a sure diagnosis. Would you mind answering them?"

"Not at all…"

He felt a bit dizzy again but prevented his head from falling onto Kaede's shoulder right next to it.

"Have you slept much, lately?"

"Huh… Not really…? I've been busy with work and college, so I probably neglected my sleep…"

"Have you kept an eye on your alimentation?"

"Made sure to eat at least breakfast, lunch and dinner… Classic student stuff, noodles, some junk food here and there, but I try to limit that, so I usually eat rice for dinner anyway…"

Kaede's eyes were a bit stern on him.

"Shuichi…" she whispered, seemingly upset.

The doctor wrote down some of the answers he gave out, until he went through them all again.

"Mr Saihara," he told them both, "you have a rather bad case of overwork and general fatigue due to an important workload and a lack of sleep. You mostly need some rest and to take care of your life habits and it should be fine in a few days. I will also give you some antipyretics, since according to your medical information you have fevers easily."

Kaede's eyes locked onto his again, this time displaying pity. Oh, joy.

"Here is the list of medicine you will need," the doctor continued as he gave Kaede a freshly printed out piece of paper. "Any question?"

"Yeah, huh… How long am I off work…? I doubt rest includes working or attending class…"

"You are right, Mr Saihara. I have given you a week off from both work and class, since I have heard from Ms Akamatsu that you were still a student."

"Oh, great… Just great…" Shuichi whispered under his breath.

Once they were out of the doctor's office, the bill paid, Kaede offered to go back to the car and go to the pharmacy to get the medicine from the list. Once in her car again, the silence from the way there got broken by anything but her radio playing classical music.

"Shuichi," she asked him, glancing at him with worry on her face, "is everything all right? You look sad."

"What makes you think I'm sad…?"

"I wouldn't know how to describe it, but… You look like you're really bothered by something. Is it just me?"

"No, you're right, I'm really bothered by something… I called in for the day, but I promised my History prof I'd be there for my presentation tomorrow, but doctor's order says I'm off for an entire week… I don't want to cancel it…"

"Aw, you're worried for your oral… I'm sure your prof will understand, Shuichi. You're a good student. At least that's what Kaito told me yesterday when he told me a bit about you."

"Oh, so you talked with Kaito about me…"

"Yeah! He told me you were a very good guy, who loved literature and who put others before himself! You know, as scary as this soulmate thing is, I'm really glad and relieved it's with you I get to share it… I don't know why, but I just feel better when I'm around you."

"Same here… It's just better when you're around, for some reason…"

She accelerated as soon as she noticed he was curling on himself for warmth. She also insisted on getting his medicine for him, but he still went with her because he really didn't want her to pay for him when they were nothing more than freshly friends. Quickly after, they were back to his flat, him in the sofa, her by his side, carefully reading the instructions the doctor had given out and inspecting the medicine.

"Sheesh, Shuichi, you need to take care of yourself!" She scolded him as she prepared him a glass of water for the pills. "You have to eat correctly and sleep long enough! I'm sure Kaito tells you that a lot, but that proves you really need to do so instead of just saying you'll do that later! Your health is very important!"

"I'll… I'll try paying it more attention… I've been busy lately…"

Yet, even when she was angry at him, Kaede shined him a bright and comforting smile.

"You're such a hard worker, Shuichi… I've seen your room when I went to fetch you a sheet," sheet she then proceeded to put on his legs, "and it's a mess of books and case files. I may call a friend over so she can help us fix this, but for now, you're ordered to rest!"

She patted his shoulder.

"I'll make you a small something, please wait for me here. If you need anything, just call me!"

When Kaede came back, barely minutes later, she had a small cup of steaming milk in her hands.

"Here you go! It's still a bit hot, but my mom always made honey milk for my sis and me when we were sick or tired. I thought it could be good to give you a cup too!"

"That's very kind of you, Kaede… Thank you very much…"

Shuichi folded his legs back to his torso as he blew some of the steam off the cup, before taking a sip of it.

He could get used to this soulmate thing, if it meant feeling good when he'd usually feel miserable.


	3. Coccinellida

His first day back to college was going to be a wild experience, Shuichi thought as he brushed his hair. In fact, Kaito and Kaede had both maintained him far from his laptop, so he couldn't have been able to check his mails before. He'd have to do this once at school, because there was no way his roommate wasn't secretly watching him with any kind of surveillance device. He hadn't spotted any camera or webcam around, but perhaps the holes of the locks had been adjusted.

Or maybe it was just him feeling a bit paranoiac from getting watched most of the time for the past week.

In fact, Shuichi had gotten his privacy so invaded in such a few days that he had decided to go to college earlier. Kaito always had a cab with Maki and her motorcycle: he just took the subway or the bus anyway, depending on the number of people in said bus. It was always a pick of where there were the less people to get the bacteria of. That didn't help him not to be sick, but it helped him feeling better about it.

He had promised Gonta to meet him in front of the school at quarter to seven, so they could work on Gonta's Latin. He wasn't very good at it because he had never taken a single Latin class before college, but the boy was so invested and so hardworking, Shuichi couldn't have resisted his pleas for help.

The pros with meeting with Gonta in a public place like a college was that he was easy to spot: he was tall, he was always dressed well (he had even started actually wearing shoes the year before) and he was usually near a bush or flowers observing bugs. This day was no exception: Shuichi spotted his friend right next to a bush, gently observing a caterpillar, a yellow-and-black butterfly having landed on his shoulder.

When the glass-wearing boy spotted him, he softly told the butterfly he was about to get up, slowly got up and waved his unoccupied arm at Shuichi. Moments after, they were right in front of each other. Shuichi would never admit it out of respect for the gentle giant, but he always felt a bit overwhelmed when faced to him.

"Shuichi!" Gonta said, a smile on his face. "It's been a while since we've seen each other, right?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry for last week, I got sick and Kaito didn't want me to go outside our flat, so I had to cancel our meeting."

"It's okay! Gentlemen always understand when their friends can't make it to something. Are you feeling better?"

"I do. I was just very tired and overworked, don't worry. Hum…"

"That's very unfortunate," Gonta commented, "you don't mind maintaining our Latin class?"

"Why would I? I promised it to you, right?"

"Because you were sick and tired! It's never good to exhaust yourself, so Gonta wanted to make sure you felt fine with it…"

"Oh, I'm fine now. Really, you shouldn't worry… Let's go for it, okay?" His voice trailed off. "And, huh… why are you giving me a hand…?"

"You were sick, right? You must still be a little tired, so Gonta wants to…" He corrected himself halfway through his sentence, "I want to carry you to the library so you don't tire yourself!"

"Oh, ah… Sure, I guess."

It felt a bit awkward to go the library on Gonta's back, but once again, he just caved in when seeing how well-meaning his friend was. Moreover, he was moving much faster than Shuichi could ever do, thanks to his long legs. In fact, even if Gonta was walking a bit slowly so he wouldn't shake his classmate too badly, it was still quicker than for Shuichi to walk by himself.

Once arrived at the library, they settled for a nice, chill Latin session: grammar book, dictionary, cups of coffee and tea, and opened chakras. Everything was fully ready for them to finally understand how naming bug species worked.

Gonta was, in the end, more interested in studying how Latin worked. He recognized some words he had seen in Biology classes, but eventually, Shuichi just explained to him how declensions worked. He had taught someone how to declinate nouns but not why a ladybug was named "Coccinellida". He got way too easily dragged by his friends' wants and not their needs.

In the end, it didn't feel like the entire session was in vain. He ended up explaining to Gonta what the Latin names of his bug friends meant through the help of the library's trusty, withering dictionary. The shimmer in the future entomologist's eyes was entirely worth spending half an hour browsing through yellowed, dusty pages.

"Shuichi," he suddenly said, "Gonta wonders what Kirumi thinks of bug friends…"

Oh, right, Kirumi Tojo. The top student of the Home Economics course. People said she was immune to soulmates: she had, according to rumours, tore off her own soulmate names as to server whoever needed her maid services.

Kaito had been friends with Gonta for longer than Shuichi did, since he had met the tallest boy around through Kaito, but as far as he knew, Gonta had always been somewhat fascinated by Kirumi ever since they had all entered college, although he had never dared coming to her, as it was "ungentlemanly". And, well, Kirumi hadn't made it any better: she didn't dare coming up to Gonta out of fear to bother him.

Just as Gonta mentioned her, the one people called the "Ultimate Maid" made her way near their table. Shuichi, who was desperately trying to overcome his timidity, decided to give a shot at inviting someone at a table. Maybe, just maybe he could make Gonta and Kirumi have the talk they desperately needed.

Yeah, no, that wasn't happening, but at least he would have tried. Kaito always talked about trying.

As she made her way to a shelf, Shuichi took a deep breath, prepared his most convincing and friendliest voice, took a look around him as not to disturb most people and walked up to her, preparing his words again.

"Kirumi?" he gently asked in order to get her attention.

She turned back, faced him and smiled softly.

"Oh, it is you, Shuichi. How may I help you?"

Classic Kirumi question. It was always about helping people.

"Oh, I don't need help with anything, I… I just wondered if you… didn't want to have a cup of tea with Gonta and me…"

Ugh. He was still garbage at talking to people.

"Sure. I will have a cup of tea with the both of you, if you ask so nicely."

"Ah, nice! F-follow me to our table, then…"

Shuichi brought her to the table where his Latin books were still wide opened. Gonta had just filled the boiler again and had prepared three white cups, all neatly aligned on the table far from the books.

"Oh, Gonta… I'll pull a chair for you!" he said as he happily got up and did just as he planned on doing.

"Thank you very much, Gonta," Kirumi replied, bowing to the giant.

"You're welcome!"

Shuichi knew he didn't have to force things to happen. In fact, he knew his friend would take care of everything: not only because he was a gentleman serving a lady a cup of tea, but also because he was Gonta serving not any lady a cup of tea. Shuichi may had been bad at picking up hints from the trickster he had shared a table with in high school: he was, perhaps because of his detective training, able to pick up on some attraction levels. He had been able to sense there was something between Kaito and Maki, after all.

As such, he was perfectly content with staying on the side and smiling shyly at the scene. At worst, he'd continue the crime novel he still hadn't finished. It had lay around in his overcoat's pocket ever since he had gone to the doctor with Kaede, it was about time he finished it.

Strong hands picked the wooden box whose front window showed packets of tea.

"What flavour do you want, Kirumi?" Gonta asked as he opened the box, showcasing his surprisingly diverse selection of packets. According to Gonta himself, he had collected tea packets since high school because it was part of the gentleman's essentials.

"I will be content with anything. Please pick first."

"No! Ladies first!"

Kirumi giggled softly to herself, then looked at the box.

"If you insist, I shall pick the camomile tea then. Thank you very much."

Gonta then pointed the box to his more obvious friend.

"Shuichi, what tea do you want?"

The literature student rose his head from his book almost in a hurry.

"Oh, huh… Earl Grey please."

Despite his… wild appearance if Shuichi had to put words on what Gonta reminded him of, the latter was actually very delicate when it came to pouring tea. There was never too much water in the cup, there never was lost drops on the table, and he always made sure to close everything correctly. Once he was done, he put a small plastic up of honey between the three of them as he gave them their cups.

"The honey comes from Gonta's beehives! His… My friends made sure it was the best they could do! Please enjoy their hard work!"

"I'm sure we will," Shuichi replied. He really felt more comfortable around Gonta than when he was alone, despite his instincts to timidity. Or it was because he was used to his friend reminding everyone of how hard-working his bees were.

"I have heard you produced this honey yourself, Gonta," Kirumi commented as she picked a bit of the sugary substance to stir in her cup.

"Gonta…" He slightly scoffed to himself, "I just harvest it! The bees take care of everything!"

"I see."

They made small talk. Well, Gonta and Kirumi mostly did the chit-chat: Shuichi was just reading this book, content with simply listening to the trivial matters. Class didn't start for two hours anyway and lunch was in an hour at best. He had all his time to enjoy some tranquil moments with his friends.

Even if Kirumi was busy with her waitress job on the side, she was part of Shuichi's circle of friends through Kaito. The guy had befriended most of the school, but as always, only a few people stuck around. Shuichi was part of them, but so were people like Gonta, Rantaro, Ryoma and Kirumi. Tenko had joined them when Kaito started dating Maki, "as to protect her from the menace".

"I will help you clean everything," she told Gonta once everyone had finished drinking their tea.

"You don't mind?" he asked back, already about to get up.

"It is only normal of me to help you clean up after you generously welcomed me to your table."

"Gonta won't let you do it alone, then! Let's clean everything together!"

"You want my…" Shuichi started to reply, not willing to completely stay behind.

Kirumi got up, about to grab the cups. Her eyes met Gonta's as he was looking at the same teacups before they almost got taken from his hands.

"…help."

Suddenly, it felt like time had stopped, even for Shuichi.

He saw shock, then pain in both pairs of eyes. She firmly gripped her wrist with her other hand as she prevented her eyes from squeezing shut. He clutched his as if to avoid feeling the dolour running through his veins, his fingers wrapped around a faint golden light.

It was a familiar feeling, the feeling which had overwhelmed him to losing his balance a week before. Yet, seeing it from an outside perspective made it all the while disturbing: neither of them had thought at any point that they were actually linked by this mysterious force over everyone's heads.

After it had all calmed down, they were both on their chairs again, shaken by the sudden commotion. Gonta's face was splattered in confusion: he really didn't get what had just happened, and if Shuichi hadn't known soulmates that much before thanks to Kaito and cases, he would had been as confused as the poor guy. All he could do was to read what had appeared on his wrist, over and over again, trying to process what that could possibly mean.

To Shuichi, it was obvious that Kirumi knew as much as him about soulmates, if not even more. After she stealthily removed her glove, just the right amount as to see what had written itself in golden characters, she sighed in what he could only perceive as sadness. Or perhaps she didn't know how to react?

Gonta showed him the inside of his wrist.

"Shuichi, do… Do you have anything on this…?"

He shouldn't have stared that long at these letters, yet he couldn't take his eyes off of the newly written name.

"This… This is your soulmate, Gonta."

The gentleman looked at his wrist again, studying it, then turning to Kirumi. Their eyes locked in what seemed to be the realization they were completely and utterly doomed. And they stared at each other, locked in a daze.

"Soulmate…"

"I was not expecting such… such an event to happen to me," dripped from Kirumi's mouth as she looked down.

They were barely getting over it when the bell called for Shuichi. His presence felt, largely, unwelcome.

He apologized countless times to his professor for missing class on the day he was supposed to make his presentation. Since Kaede had called in for him, the prof had thought it was just a bad prank on him, but it was far from it. In exchange not to get a null grade, Shuichi had volunteered to make his now-postponed presentation on Caesar's murder. It was weird for everyone to go back to Caesar when they already were on Augustus, but if he said so himself, it had been fine.

It had been just fine because he hadn't stubbled upon his own words, for once.

Once class was done, Shuichi spotted Gonta in a bush, seemingly reminiscing about something as he stared at some leaves. It felt weird to see him being somewhat down, as he usually was smiling, especially when surrounded by bugs and flowers. It was as if he hadn't noticed the purple butterfly on his left shoulder.

He was about to go see his pensive friend when a loud, deep voice screamed for him from what seemed to be the other side of the campus.

"Oi, Shuichi!"

Waving at him was a very familiar face, huge grin plastered on his face, sporting galaxy-printed clothes as per usual with him.

"Ah, Kaito…!"

The self-proclaimed Luminary of the Stars ran to him like a rocket before slapping his friend's shoulder. Casual bro stuff, according to him.

"How's it goin'? Ya look pensive! How was ya presentation?"

"Oh, huh, good, I got a good grade… The prof didn't seem too mad at me. A-and you?"

He always felt a bit overwhelmed when faced with his best friend's never-ending stack of energy, although he would never complain about it: Kaito's overwhelming dynamism was heavily contagious.

"Amazing, as always! I even got a date with Maki Roll!"

"You… You've been dating Maki for a year, Kaito…" Shuichi replied looking away.

"Don't comment on my datin' habits when ya're still transformin' into jello every time ya see Kaede!"

"…"

There was no possible response for him. He couldn't deny how awkward he felt around Kaede. Soulmate or not, was it possible to be that flustered around someone?

Kaito blinked as he looked towards the green space of the campus.

"Hey, bro… Ya know what's up with Gonta? He's usually not sulkin' near some flowers, as far as I know."

"Ah, yeah… He just found out who is soulmate was, and I think it's still shaking him…"

"Lemme guess… It's Kirumi?"

"How… How did you guess so quickly?"

"C'mon, bro, these two spent their time tryin' to speak to each other! Plus she has like a spider pattern to her or somethin', and Gonta loves bugs and tiny crap like that, they were just made for each other man."

"I see where you're coming from…"

"Bro, let's comfort him, 'kay? We can't let our pal down when he needs the help of two matched soulmates!"

Shuichi looked aside. That was so embarrassing…

"I-if you want…"

They both went to the third boy. It was only when Kaito made their presence known with a "oi" that Gonta turned his head towards them.

"Oh, hello Kaito…"

The purple-clad student crouched to his friend's level.

"Shuichi explained to me what happened this mornin'. That's why ya all bummed down, right?"

Gonta nodded, as if unable to verbally respond.

"That's okay, y'know, we all have soulmates anyway! I know it's a shock when ya find out who it is, but Kirumi's a really good gal, so I'm sure it'll work just fine! Ya shoud go talk to her, man. It'll probably easy things up for the both of ya."

"But… What if Kirumi doesn't want to talk to Gonta…?"

"She won't. I'm sure she's as afraid as ya, and just doesn't dare comin' up to ya!" He handed his friend a hand.

Gonta got up with Kaito's help as they both faced the third party again. Shuichi had always felt like he was mostly in the picture rather than the hero of his own story: this was just another instance of so. Yet, he didn't mind, because Kaito was handling this very painful deal like a pro when he was still struggling with his own soulmate.

Now, he wished Kaede attended the same college as they did, but she was already a pianist and studies were already behind her at twenty years of age. But it wasn't the time to slip in a daze about how lovely Kaede looked, spoke, cared, simply put, how lovely she was. But, once again, it wasn't time to think about her.

A recognized voice suddenly arrived into the conversation.

"Gonta?"

Shuichi and Kaito both found themselves surprised at how bold Kirumi suddenly looked. Her posture, her visible eye looking straight at the three of them instead of slightly to the ground or away, her firm tone. There was an aura of power emanating from her, sheer confidence and newly found audacity mixing with somewhat of a gentle stance.

Her eye locked with Gonta's once again, except neither of them clutched their wrists. Instead, Kaito grabbed Shuichi's and they got away from the scene with slow, almost quiet footsteps. Time wasn't frozen, but its flow had been disturbed and considerably slowed them. It was, once again, as if almost nobody existed outside of the two soulmates.

"What do you need from Gonta, Kirumi?" he asked her.

"I wish to address with you what happened before classes started. You seem to be as confused and lost as I am on the topic…"

("Shouldn't we not spy on them like that?" Shuichi asked.

"Nah," Kaito replied, barely hidden behind a bush, "they're probably gonna need us later, we need to stay on alert bro".)

"Oh, sure thing… Mind sitting down on the grass with Gonta?"

"I do not mind at all."

They both did so as soon as it was agreed upon. The purple butterfly hadn't left him yet, staying perfectly still on his shoulder. She made sure to sit somewhere where she wouldn't get any dirty.

"According to Shuichi," Kirumi started in an almost silent voice, "we simply happened to discover this today."

He stayed silent for a short while, until he looked away and blushed.

"Ah, uh… Gon… Gon… I'm happy that you're Gon… my soulmate, Kirumi…"

It was her turn to blush, contrasting with her usual cool demeanour.

"Y-you are…? I… I am delighted this is the case then…"

"Yeah! You're a very good person who always thinks of others before yourself! Gonta's happy to be your soulmate!"

"Then… I wish to tell you I am happy to be your soulmate too, Gonta. You are a very kind person whom I wish to know more about. So, if you do not mind… could we spend some more time together?"

"Of course!"

"I am delightful that you ac-Huh?!"

With that, Gonta grabbed Kirumi in her arms and clutched her against his chest. Despite her initial shock, a smile appeared shortly after as she returned the hug. The purple butterfly flew from his shoulder to hers.

The look they gave each other once they pulled away was something their friends had never seen from them. It was strong yet gentle, neither aggressive nor unsure. It was as if they had come to term with being linked, because they simply enjoyed each other's presence by their side.

If Shuichi hadn't grasped all he had of courage to put his hand in front of his best friend's mouth, Kaito would had screamed in happiness.


	4. Do I Need to Change?

When he had gotten the idea to ask Kaede to spend more time with her, Shuichi didn't have any idea of what he should do for that. He couldn't bring her to something too romantic, that'd sound like he wanted to date her. He just wanted them to know each other but his mind was completely blanking out. As such, he was stuck on his phone's screen, staring at the empty message box of his conversation with Kaede.

The rush of dopamine he had felt when he had seen she had agreed to spend some time with him one of these days was running off. Happiness gave stead to anxiety and confusion: what was he supposed to do? He had a golden moment to seize. If he didn't seize it, she could just… find someone better, right? Nobody was obligated to spend time their soulmate. She could just reject him and go for someone better, perhaps in a similar situation to her.

And, for some reason, that made his heart ache.

Shuichi was downright confused. Why did she matter so much to him? Sure, she was pretty, kind and had taken care of him, but that was it, right? It was weird to be so suddenly attached to someone who was a complete stranger to him something like two weeks ago… He had spent weeks with Kaito before truly getting attached to him, so why was Kaede different? Was it because she was his soulmate? Why were soulmates so hard to understand, when everybody else seemed to date them immediately?

At one point, Shuichi had been ready to dial his parents again, just to know that. He wished he could ask Uncle Shinichi about that, but he had never found his soulmate and lived in a perfectly happy relationship with his aunt. Maybe, just maybe he should have asked Kaito about that before. Maybe he have looked less dumb stuck on his phone in bed if he had done that be-

"Oi, Shuichi, what's takin' ya so long?!"

Panicked, he glanced at his alarm clock. He had been so focused on trying to reply to Kaede, he had forgotten he had class in the morning! Kaito must had knocked to remind him to get out of his room and get ready for the day. Today was, after all, a very important day: the results of the finals were today. He had to be there at least to know if he had passed the semester.

Quickly, he put on some correct clothes, almost picking up his high school uniform he somehow still had with him by error, making sure to have a jacket as not to get a cold again. He'd brush his hair after breakfast, that wasn't an issue. A couple minutes later, he was outside his room, facing a very amused Kaito.

"Ready for breakfast, bro?" he asked, shining him a thumb up.

"Huh, sure…!"

They made their way to the living room-kitchen hybrid, where the table was already set. Shuichi could, much to his surprise, already smell steaming coffee from what seemed to be his designated bowl (Kaito had insisted for him to take the blue bowl, so he could reserve himself the exclusive use of the purple bowl they had gotten together in a discount).

"You… made everything yourself, Kaito?" he asked, bewildered. He was so used to waking up before Kaito when he wasn't stuck in bed, he didn't remember him every setting a table all by himself.

"Yeah! I figured ya were either sleepin' or thinkin' 'bout Kaede, I didn't wanna disturb ya! Plus it ain't that hard to set a full breakfast table y'know!"

"Thank you…"

Breakfast was quiet, the two of them eating in full silence otherwise, until Kaito broke the ice.

"Shuichi, ya have somethin' on ya mind?"

"Yes," he first replied startled before correcting himself, "huh, no, why?"

"Ya totally have somethin' on ya mind."

"W-well… I want to invite Kaede somewhere so we can spend time together, but I don't know where to go which wouldn't be too boring or romantic… Do you have any idea?"

"I dunno man, ya the one who wants a date with her! Just bring her where you think she'd like to be! Just don't pick somethin' completely cliché like a cinema or a museum, that's overdone to death man."

"It's not a date! I just want to get to know her!"

"Yeaaaah, sure," Kaito smirked. "Anyway, ya should just go by ya gut bro. I'm sure she'll like it anyway if she wanna spend some time with ya!"

"Thanks, Kaito."

Shuichi truly meant his thanks. As he prepared himself to go to college and on the road to the school, he couldn't help but think about what he was going to do with Kaede and his proposal. He had to think of something good so she would accept to be his friend. Or, at least, not give up on him when he wanted to know her so much better.

Perhaps he could take care to his favourite spot in the park, but that was too boring. He could spend a day with her at the mall, but he hated being surrounded by too much people, and malls were famous for being full of people, especially on weekends. Anything music-related would be way too stereotypical. He had to find something that was both casual and cool to go too…

The first class of the day, History, went smoothly. The presentations were over, which meant they could start the chapter on the European Middle Ages. It seemed that, this year, the prof had picked France as the main country. It was an odd choice: he truly didn't get why they weren't studying Japan that much, but on the other hand, he had nothing against something different than what he had studied before.

A free hour followed before he had to attend Modern Literature class. He didn't have much homework to do, since he had to just make some studying sheets of his History lesson. Still, the library was one of his favourite places, so he decided he'd go there. It was a perfect place to study, after all.

There seemed to be some crow at the library. Usually, he'd have installed himself at the table where Kaito had found him again, on the year before. However, he didn't feel like it: he saw Gonta and Kirumi finding out they were soulmates, back there, as if it was the day before all over again. As such, he settled for a calmer spot, right next to the fantasy novels and books on them.

There was some stuff left alone in front of him: a red pencil case with stars on it, a huge copybook open, a few pens including a glittery one, and a backpack. If he wasn't wrong, that pencil case belonged to Himiko Yumeno from the Spectacle Arts course and the backpack belonged to Tenko Chabashira from the Sports course.

The two of them were friends of Maki who had introduced them to Kaito and him when the former started dating her. Shuichi couldn't exactly say he was friends with them: they were on friendly terms, especially since, according to Maki, Tenko's tendencies to demonize the entire male gender had subdued, but he didn't feel that close to them. After all, they had both entered the group rather lately.

Anyway, that was enough thinking about the both of them. He had to focus on school work so he could finish his sheets rapidly and start studying the next case he had accepted to take on. It was much simpler than the tricky robbery of Kaede Akamatsu he had had to put down because of his almost-emergency sickness leave, as far as he remembered.

And yet, a voice came there to break him out of his train of thoughts.

"Hey, Shuichi! Long time no see!"

He rose his head to the voice of Tenko Chabashira, looking at him with a cheeky smile.

"Huh, Tenko? It's rare to see you around the library…"

"I was helping my Himiko grab some books she needed!" She then took a look of surprise. "You're not with that degenerate?"

"Degenerate?" Oh, right, Kaito. "No, he's in class right now. I'm all alone."

She looked around before sitting down with him. To be honest, he was surprised she hadn't called him a degenerate too: after all, he was a guy who had guy friends and did… guy things, he supposed. He hadn't really been conscious of how masculine he was before meeting Tenko, to be honest, so he wasn't exactly sure how he fared in her scale of degeneration.

She took the weirdest face she got closer to his face, almost pushing the copybook he had opened on his table in front of him out of the table.

"Hey, so… I've heard you found your soulmate and all…"

Shuichi was kind of puzzled. How had she found out about that? Was it some bluff, or had she really gotten hold of a piece of information he hadn't made any public yet? Maybe the discussion would tell him so as it went down.

"How do you know that…?"

"Oh, that's simple! Maki told me! She learnt that from the degenerate…"

"Ah, huh, it's… It's a bit embarrassing, since I haven't made it really public yet, you know…"

"Your soulmate is a girl, right?"

"Yeah, why so?"

Tenko waved her finger at him as she closed one eye.

"Because I need to make sure you take great care of her! I don't want a fellow girl to be miserable with some kind she's been linked to!"

"Ah, I see… To be honest, I'm still a bit confused about this soulmate thing, so if you have any advice as to how I can treat Kaede as she deserves, I'm listening…"

"Oh, so you're a male willing to understand! That's rare! Anyway, lemme give ya some advice on how to treat Kaede as perfectly as possible!"

For some reason, her attitude seemed to totally change from a cheeky friend of a friend to some kind of professor, elevating herself on top of him as she stood up again with a feet on the chair she had previously sat on.

"Okay, listen to me! First of all, you have to make sure she's comfortable with you! Don't hesitate to ask her if she minds something like some topics or some places. You wouldn't want to make her feel bad!"

She added a finger.

"Second! You have to treat her with respect! Not just basic respect, like saying her hello or thanks, but respect in general! Respect her choices and her way to think! And, most of all: respect it if she doesn't want you!"

That hurt, man, what the hell?!

Tenko sat back down, this time displaying sparkles in her eyes.

"So… How is this Kaede?"

"Hum… She's a very kind person, with a heart of gold. She's always been friendly even as she was my client and I was a detective she had hired. It's a bit embarrassing, but she's someone very caring too! She took care of me when I was sick as I investigated the robbery of her place…"

He felt his face heat up from the embarrassment of the events.

"I'm very lucky to be her soulmate. I don't want to disappoint her because she's someone amazing. I've known her for only a couple weeks, but I feel like I have some kind of link to her. It's weird, right?"

She did look immensely puzzled.

"Is there something wrong about what I said?" he asked, insecure and surprised all the same.

"No, it's that… You didn't describe her physically! Usually males mostly care about appearance!"

"We're not all like that, you know… Sure, Kaede's very pretty, her blond hair fits the frame of her face perfectly and her eyes are beautiful, but… She's so much more than just her looks! She has golden hair, but she also has a heart of gold!"

God, that was embarrassingly cheesy.

Tenko looked away and fuddled with her fingers, seemingly more embarrassed than he even was.

"Oh… A-anyway," she switched topics, "she's your soulmate, right? That means you probably need some soulmate advice!"

"That's true, I'm a bit confused… Tell me, Tenko, you're soulmates with Himiko, right?"

"Yep! It was a bit difficult because I always thought she was cute and all, but she didn't seem to notice me… One day, I helped her get a book from a high shelf, our eyes crossed, and we were matched! She didn't really want me at first, but eventually, we grew closer and closer… We started dating last month! I'd do everything for her!"

Shuichi looked down before asking the question which had burnt his tongue for so long.

"How did you get closer to Himiko?"

"Oh, we started by spending some time at school with each other, like studying and eating lunch together with friends, then face-to-face! We would pay each other stuff sometimes and before we knew it, my love was reciprocated! It's a bit weird at the beginning, though, but I don't feel like it's going too bad for you… You lucky ma… man."

"Nyeh… Tenko helped me with stuff… Then _magic_ happened… and we dated…"

Shuichi got surprised by hearing the high-pitched, soft voice of Himiko, who had joined Tenko and him.

"I didn't notice you get there, Himiko…!" he commented, startled.

"It's because I appeared with _magic_ …"

Tenko's eyes immediately switched to sparkles and her cheeks reddened by the second.

"Ah, my Himiko, you're here! I was explaining to Shuichi how we got together!"

"But, I thought you didn't like men… Why are you saying all of that to him…?"

"Because this way he knows how to treat his soulmate! She has to be treated in dignity and respect, and I'm here to teach this to this mal… man!"

He only laughed awkwardly at the small shade thrown at him.

"Oh…" Himiko reacted. "Right, you found your soulmate, Shuichi…"

"Yeah… I'm still a bit confused, so I asked Tenko how you two got closer together. I really want to be Kaede's friend, but I'm at a loss."

"All you need is _magic_ … But since you don't have powers… I guess I can give you some advice…"

He was all ears.

"You gotta be yourself… At first I tried to be more active when I saw I was linked to Tenko… But it didn't work…"

"It's not that it didn't work!" Tenko replied. "It's just that you're just so cute as you are, Himiko! You didn't need to change! Well, I tried to be less energic too to get closer to Himiko, but it didn't work and eventually we realized we just loved each other as we were!"

"Don't be so nervous about it, Shuichi… Take it easy… See her sometimes… Bring her to my magic shows… And just be you… You're not someone bad…"

These words did make him smile.

"Himiko's right!" Tenko added. "Changing for someone else is nasty and wanting someone to change for you too! But there's one thing you could improve on, ma… One thing you could improve on!"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Your attitude, of course! Nobody wants to date a timid male! You need to improve on your charisma! You won't have a chance if you don't show you're worth anything!"

"Tenko's right… You need to be more forward… I wasn't before, but then I got with Tenko…" Himiko smiled. "Now I'm confident… so I feel better…"

"You… You're right," Shuichi found himself replying. "I need to be more forward… Kaito tells me the same thing often too."

Tenko clenched her teeth, muttering "that degenerate…".

Himiko seemed to get a flash of inspiration before bending to her bag and getting some things out of it. She handed two tickets to him.

"Here… These are two seats to my magic show next month… You can give the second one to anyone… But you should bring your soulmate, just saying…"

"Yeah! You could introduce her to us! I would love to meet her and I'm sure Himiko would be very happy to do so too!"

The redhead's soft laugh confirmed the taller girl's words.

"Tenko's right… I'm sure we would all love to meet her…"

She then looked at her phone's screen.

"Oh, we have to leave… We gotta prepare our show… See ya, Shuichi, have a nice day…!"

"See ya!"

He waved them goodbye as they both left the library.

As he got out of Literature class, Shuichi was still trying to search for a nice spot with a nice idea to spend an afternoon in. The library was too calm, and since he wanted to know Kaede better, he didn't want them to have to remain quiet. A café sounded like a good idea, but on the other hand, what if they got annoyed by people? What if she didn't like cafés? What if the ambient noise drowned their voices? He really, really didn't know how to-

Before he knew it, he smashed into someone very familiar. Facing up once he had fallen to the ground, he directly met Maki's eyes, who kneeled to him as soon as he fell and shook his head. He thought he had seen concern flash on her face for a couple of seconds before her usual stern expression appeared again.

"Don't you pay attention to where you're walking?" she scolded him right as she gave him a hand.

"Ah, sorry, I was caught up in my thoughts…" he replied as he took the hand and rose up from the ground. "Thank you."

She attempted to glare at him.

"Don't think I'm doing that because I care for you. I'm just doing that because otherwise you idiot of a roommate is going to spam me for not helping you or something."

"You didn't have to help me to my feet, though…"

"I'm polite, what else do you want? To die?"

"I… I'll pass, thank you…"

Maki crossed her arms before resuming the conversation with another question.

"You're going to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah," Shuichi replied as he made sure to have his cafeteria card on him. "I have to join Kaito there. You… want to come with me?"

God, he felt very nervous asking that, but he wanted to be more daring.

"I suppose so. We should hurry so the cafeteria queue isn't swamped by petty brats."

On the way to the cafeteria, then in the queue to Kaito's table, it was mostly quiet. To be honest, Shuichi hadn't talked much to Maki yet: he had been busy elsewhere, she was rather cold and seemed to treat him as nothing more than a coward (which he was, but it was still displeasing to feel) and, mostly, they rarely had time where they were alone together rather than with Kaito making sure the conversation was going somewhere.

However, in the end, they ended up chatting a bit. It started with some basic, "how were your classes"-level of conversations, nothing he couldn't handle. He didn't need any added courage to tell his best friend's girlfriend about his day of college.

"Kaito told me about your soulmate," she suddenly said as if she had remembered that. "That idiot wouldn't stop screaming about it."

"That's right, we haven't seen each other since that happened. I'm sorry for that, Kaito has been very excited about her and it's a bit embarrassing, to be honest…"

"He's always been way too joyful at the idea of his friends dating. It's certain he wants you to date your soulmate and he has already told me about some plans he had for you and… Your soulmate is a girl, right?"

"Yeah. Her name is Kaede and she's leagues above…" No, not the self-depreciating shit again! He needed to be more confident! "I've only talked with her a couple times, but she seems to be a very kind person. Kaito met her when she brought me back home after we found out about each other."

"I see. That's why he was so… _ecstatic_ on the phone that day."

After describing Kaede, Maki's eyes rolling when he mentioned for the third time how insanely patient she was with him, they arrived to Kaito's table. He had been waiting for them with the biggest grin on his face, his plate already half-finished. On the same table were Gonta and Kirumi.

"Maki Roll! Bro! There you are!"

"Hi friends!"

"Hello. It is a pleasure to see you today. Tenko and Himiko told me they would join us a bit later."

They both installed themselves, Maki next to Kaito, Shuichi facing the latter.

"You didn't forget about your medicine, right, bro?"

"No, I've not forgotten about my morning pills…"

As he replied to his roommate's worry, Shuichi got out a table of pills from his bag.

"Sorry for that, guys, I know it's not very pretty and all…"

"Don't worry Shuichi!" Gonta said. "We prefer knowing you take your medicine correctly!"

"If you do not mind my question, why does Shuichi need this treatment?" Kirumi asked. "I have to know in order to avoid any possible incident."

"Bro, you mind telling Kirumi?"

He swallowed his usual pill before answering.

"Not at all. I just have a rather terrible case of asthma." (Kaito whispered about how he was downplaying it). "My medicine makes it more than bearable, don't worry for me."

"Understood."

Shuichi was facing his phone once again. It was finally time. He had settled for something simple but versatile. With shaking fingers, he opened the conversation again and typed his final message, discarding the four drafts he had written before.

"Hello, Kaede. I hope you've had a nice day. If you're still okay with Sunday afternoon, mind going to Haruka Park with me?"

His eyes couldn't get away from the screen, even after the fateful "Send" button had been pressed and released. Perception of time was obviously warped: it felt like ages until he saw a new message pop on the screen.

"Hi Shuichi! I've had a fantastic day, and I hope you did too. I'm completely fine with it! I've never been in this park. Will you mind showing me around? I'll come pick you up at half past one at your flat, ok?"

His reply was filled with relief.

"I've had a nice day, thank you for asking. I'll be very glad to show you around. I'm completely fine with the time."


	5. Entering Her World

The week had been one slow time to get past. The excitement of the weekend's upcoming events also made him feel anxious. How many times did he surprise himself by getting lost in his thoughts in the middle of something just because he started thinking about Sunday afternoon? He hadn't even invited Kaede to lunch… Should have he done that? Did she want to eat with him? How was he going to show her around?

Questions kept piling up as much as the cases in his uncle's office piled up too. At first, Shuichi really wanted to help around, by taking care of small pet-related cases, of some paperwork. However, his uncle had something else in mind: quickly, his nephew had gotten the daring task of drinking a nice cup of hot chocolate while his own little office was getting locked from him.

Okay, got it: forced vacations it was. Fine, he'd just take care of the small case he had managed to sneak with him.

Sunday morning. After finishing an essay, Shuichi felt like was time to solve the very last questions he had about his afternoon. College had somehow distracted him from what would happen very soon, pushing the questions as they appeared in his mind. However, this technique didn't help in any way the huge issue of actually getting the replies and solutions to these questions and puzzles.

He had never done such a thing with someone he got attached so quickly. He was so scared of disappointing her, he was the first one surprise of the intensity of this feeling. It was something he had never felt before: he had never wanted to please someone has badly as Kaede. Why so? Was it because she was his soulmate? Was it because he had been conditioned to please his "chosen one" by society since he had been born as the only child of two soulmates?

While he was dressed casually for flat life because he didn't want to dirty something important when he was eating lunch or doing anything else, he had to pick something at least a bit formal, right? He didn't want to be dressed like a rag. Maybe, deep down, he wanted to be as charming as Kirumi or Gonta were, always dressed very well.

He could only ask the one person who had gotten him into this mess in the first place: Kaito. Even if Kaito hadn't been the one to suggest him for the robbery case, he sure had been the one to push him to accept it despite the celebrity of the victim. On one hand, Shuichi was in a deep mess he didn't know how to untangle himself from, but on the other hand, he was forever grateful to Kaito for having pushed him because, honestly, meeting Kaede was one of the best things to have happened in his life.

"Huh, Kaito, can I ask you about something?"

The purple-clad man entered the room, popping his head through the frame, while Shuichi was facing his own closer with a pensive face.

"What do ya need, bro?"

"I need your advice on something… It's silly, but I don't know what to wear this afternoon. I don't know if I should wear something special. I'm probably overthinking this, but what do you think?"

"Bro, just go as you are. Just make sure ya don't have any dirt on your clothes and it'll be just fine!"

Grabbing a pair of jeans, a jacket and a simple button-up shirt, he made his away to the bathroom, thanking his roommate on the way there, and finally prepared himself.

Sure enough, at one in the afternoon, a familiar white car was parked in front of his apartment lot. A chill of anxiety went down his spine, but he couldn't deny to himself how happy he was to see this car as soon as he remembered who was in it. Somehow, a warm feeling was filling his heart despite the blurry, illness-tinted memories he had of the inside of the car.

The passenger's door's window lowered, revealing the lovely face of none other than his soulmate.

"Your Uber is here, sir!"

He opened the door before entering the car, rediscovering what was only a blur of dark pinks before. In front of him, Kaede was even prettier than she had been the last time they had seen each other: her subtle makeup made her eyes shine even more, her hairdo embellished her face, everything about her was so regal and perfect again.

"Thank you for accepting, Kaede," he told her right after his hellos. He couldn't have been more grateful than for her acceptance.

"Oh, I should be the one thanking you for inviting me out! I was about to do so myself, but you got ahead of me! Ready for the ride? I've already programmed my GPS, don't worry."

"Sure thing. Let's go."

He buckled up and they left. The classical music playing from the car's speakers soothed his growing stress a little as he laid back in the seat. The streets made way for the park of his childhood: he could picture himself walking around the alleys of the park holding his uncle's hand, then the latter's wife's. There was something of a good nostalgia going through his thoughts at this moment. Usually, that didn't happen when he was thinking of his childhood… Perhaps it was because it wasn't related to either his loneliness or his parents.

They got down from the car and made their way inside the park. The flowers were in full bloom, filling the air with a delicious perfume of spring. It had only changed a bit since he had last stepped foot there: the paths were still covered in white gravel; the grass was as green as he remembered it to be and the flowers had barely changed. Perhaps some colours had changed, and he didn't remember the tulips at the entrance, but that was it. It was as if the place had been stuck in time for a decade otherwise.

He took a quick glance at Kaede, just as a way to tally her emotions. She looked mesmerized by the place: her eyes were fluttering over all the different flowers and trees she could see as she slowly walked down the central path.

"Shuichi", she hummed, "this place is beautiful! How did I not know about it before?"

"I guess it's because it's mostly a local thing. This park is a district thing, so I guess you wouldn't know about it unless you lived here for a while."

"I've not been in this city for very long…" Kaede added as she looked up at the sky. "Would you mind showing me around one of these days, Shuichi?"

Nobody had ever said his name the way she had just done, with a softness he was fond of and the stricter character of a request.

"Of course. Well, as best as I can…"

"Thank you very much!"

They wandered around rather slowly, taking their time. It was allowing Shuichi to plan ahead what he wanted to show her: the calm spot near the pond where they could watch the birds without getting disturbed by the noise of the children, the hidden swing (but that was a bit childish, wasn't it?), the ice cream parlour (it was a bit far away, and perhaps it wasn't warm enough for a cone, but who didn't like ice cream?)… He had the struggle inside of where to bring her, but the objective was clear: give her an enjoyable afternoon.

"Kaede," he eventually decided to ask her about what she thought, "can I ask you about something?"

"Go ahead."

"When you go to the park, what do you prefer to do?"

She smiled softly before replying to him.

"I see what you're trying to do, Shuichi… You need to be more assertive! I told you I wanted you to show me around, not to show me what I wanted to see! So, please, show me where you want us to go!"

He felt a bit stupid for asking such a thing. Of course she would reply that, what was he thinking? He had to show her _his_ vision of the park. Tenko was right: he needed to impose himself more. If he was inviting her, it was only normal of him to pick and choose what he wanted to show her, to do with her. And what he wanted more than anything at the moment, was to show her his favourite spot of the entire park, despite how lame it could be for an afternoon between budding friends.

As such, he decided to take a more obscure path. He simply hoped she wouldn't mind walking over not-so-dry dirt sometimes, but since they continued making small talk without saying much about the half-dried mud, he decided to shrug this concern off and to enjoy hearing about Kaede's recital anecdotes. She had such a way to put into words such trivial things like getting mistaken for her sister and as such refused to play on stage at first which made it fascinating. Perhaps it was how she giggled as she thought of her sister's face when she walked up on the scene?

They eventually arrived in a calm, rather small spot on a hill giving a view on the park's pond. Petals of flowers had fallen on the water, dotting in whites and pastels the clear surface. The main interest of the place was to be rather hidden from the common eye by willows dwindling like curtains, giving just the right amount of visibility on the pond.

This was, truly, his favourite spot of the park. He had read countless novels sitting there, on the grass, watching from time to time the birds drinking in the pond. Now that he thought about it, this spot really mattered a lot to him, and it moved him immensely to bring Kaede there. He had only showed it to Kaito and Gonta before her, after all, so that may had been the reason why he was so moved about bringing her here.

"So, huh…" he started to explain to her why he had brought her to what could just be some spot of grass and trees to her, "this is my special spot, in a way. I've spent a lot of time here since I was a little kid. It's quiet and peaceful, and that's why I wanted to bring you here…"

He looked down, recognizing the spot he had once buried his diary in.

"It's a very pretty place, Shuichi. It seems to be special to you, am I wrong?"

"I-it is, but if you don't like it, it's okay… You'll have to sit on the ground after all, I forgot to bring a blanket with me…"

She rose the billhook from his cap and looked at him straight in the eyes, for the first time since their names had written themselves on their wrist.

"You don't need to worry about where I decide to sit down! I'm perfectly fine with it! Here, let's sit down and talk a bit more, okay?"

All Shuichi was to follow orders as he put his cap back into place. It sure relieved him to see she didn't mind one of his few safe places, even if he wasn't allowed to show his weakest parts during such a decisive day. Perhaps it was today that she'd decide to pursue her soulmate or go for something better.

"I've mostly told you about me, haven't I?" Kaede remarked. "What about you tell me a bit more about you, Shuichi?"

"Ah, I'm nowhere as…" No, not again! "I think I told you, no? I'm a literature student who also has a detective job on the side."

"I meant, like what's your family like? What do you like to do, when you have some free time? I've told you about my sis and about volunteering at a hospital, I want to know more things like that about you!"

"Ah, I see. Well… I really like reading books, more specifically novels. Not mystery novels, because I usually guess who the culprit is early on, but fantasy and science-fiction novels are very interesting."

"I see where you're coming from! I like reading books too, especially fantasy, but my favourite genre is romance… I have a soft spot for soulmate novels especially…"

Shuichi felt himself quiver a bit inside. He sure hoped she wasn't a fan of his mother's work…

"Honestly," he found himself reply, "this soulmate thing is crazy. It's everywhere we go, all the time. I thought I didn't have a soulmate, before I met you."

"I was sure I had a soulmate. I don't know, I had this weird feeling when I first moved here… I felt a constant heart pinch and it was almost unbearable right before you came to my house to investigate. Instead, it felt soothing to be around you… I didn't know why, I thought it was some kind of love at first sight waiting to happen and torturing me to make it happen faster, but in the end, it was because we were soulmates. We've been linked since we were born, Shuichi."

"I suppose so… It's weird, considering I'm born months after you, but I'll take it."

Kaede's face lit up in surprise.

"Oh, you remembered my birthday from my file of the investigation?"

"I don't know how or why, but I remember it more clearly than anything I've ever had a case for…"

"Then, when is your birthday, Shuichi?"

"It's on September 7th. It makes me younger than you, am I wrong?"

"No, I think we're around the same age… You're going to turn twenty, right?"

"Yes. I assume you do to?"

"Yeah!"

A comfortable silence settled between them as he tried to retain a sneeze inside. It got out anyway, causing her to laugh softly and bless him while she was it at.

"Right, we got carried away," Kaede spoke up again after that. "What about your family?"

Shuichi stayed quiet for a few minutes. He… didn't really want to think about his parents.

"I used to live with my uncle and his wife before I moved out to my own flat with Kaito. I'm working in his office as a way to thank them for raising me as their child all these years."

"You didn't live with your parents?"

"My parents are always either abroad or in big cities where losing a child would be easy to do and had a… hands-off approach at parenting, should I put it that way. I've never seen them much. To be fair, I feel like my uncle's closer to a parent than them."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that… I hope you didn't mind me asking."

"No, not at all, especially since you told me about your family. I'm content with my uncle and my aunt, don't worry."

He sneezed again. Goddammit, that truly wasn't the time for _that_ to act up…

"You're okay?" Kaede asked, concerned. "You're not getting sick, right?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just some…" he stopped to sneeze. "My allergies acting up."

"Oh… What about we change spots then? We're surrounded by flowers, that may be why you're sneezing so badly."

"It's not a bad idea…"

And he had a good idea of a place to show her.

More chit-chat followed as they made their way to the hidden swings of the park. Shuichi knew for a fact most people had forgotten about these: the wood structure prevented them from looking rotten by the rain more than if they had been made of steel. The place had its own charm, hidden by the trees and as calm as the spot on the pond.

"I haven't been on a swing since ages! Thank you for bringing me here!"

Before he knew it, Kaede was swinging in the wind like an innocent child, as if she had lost ten years of age. He joined her, perhaps not losing his teenage years in the process, quickly after.

Hearing her innocent laughter, triggered by something as simple as reliving a childhood experience, filled his heart with joy. Perhaps this afternoon was a success. Perhaps he was convincing her not to let him down. Maybe he was getting a new friend through his own means rather than through Kaito and his own social circle.

He had come further than he had previously thought. Shuichi had to realize something and admit it: he wasn't the same he was before meeting Kaede. As short of a time span it was, something had changed within him: he was braver, willing to impose himself a bit more, and realized he had something going for him. Something his friends and Kaede saw in him, which he hadn't discovered yet, but which he hoped to find out about sooner or later.

"Hey, Shuichi… I need to tell you something."

Kaede had stopped swinging while he was lost in thought, now looking on front of her as her hands clutched the chains of her swing.

"What is it?"

"I've never told many people about it, but… I'm not glad about my family either. In fact, I have a bad relationship with my parents and my sister is getting further and further from me. They used to support me in my dreams of piano but, in the end, they decided my passion wasn't worth it and let me down several times. I still talk to them sometimes, but I just want to… escape from them, in a way."

She sighed, with a sad smile appearing on her lips.

"I know we've only known each other for a couple weeks, but I feel like we're in similar situations, in a way. I've always been scared of being judged for that because my parents are influential and spoil me with money and gifts as a way to make up for the lack of emotional support, so I was afraid of sounding ungrateful. But, when you told me about your parents and how bad they had been to you… It just got out."

"It's not being ungrateful," Shuichi replied, genuinely wanting to make her feel better. "My parents have always thought sending me gifts and money will replace actual care and support. I usually use the money to pay my rent and pay back student debts, sometimes for utilities. It's not being ungrateful, it's wanting what you actually need. But, to be honest… I'm used to it anyway. I know that, if my uncle hadn't taken me in, I'd have probably died of neglect or been sent to foster families."

Realizing he may have sounded like he was giving her a lesson on families, or that he was telling her these feelings were invalid compared to him, he decided to correct himself.

"In no way that means your feelings are any less important than mine…! I guess I just let myself voice that out loud… The point stand, though, and it's that it's normal to feel abandoned and hold a grudge against someone who was meant to care for you and didn't. I've never told Kaito such things because I know his grandparents have been very important to him ever since his parents died. I think you're the first person I've ever told about these feelings, Kaede."

When he looked back at her, she was giving him another smile, this time tinted in relief.

"Shuichi… Thank you. Thank you for your ears and words. It made me feel a lot better."

His face heated up.

"Y-you're welcome, but I should be the one to thank you…"

She got up from the swing and gave him a hand.

"What about we get something to eat? It's getting a bit late and walking on an empty stomach isn't good!"

He took her hand, a smile impossible to hide showing up on his face.

"Let's do this. There's an ice cream parlour in the park, what about we check it out?"

"That's great, let's go there!"

The topic switched from parental abandonment to more trivial matters: he learnt in the conversation about her favourite flower, bellflowers; her most liked series at the moment, a series on supernatural events; her favourite musical, one about a high school girl dealing with similarly-named bullies and her downright ill boyfriend… She could even hum her favourite song from the musical. He would have to check the series and this musical one day.

The price in exchange for this information was to reveal some things about himself too. Shuichi admitted he didn't have a lot of time to watch stuff on the Internet and didn't have a TV in his flat: when Kaito insisted to have a move night, they'd just stream something from his laptop. Instead, he told her about his favourite movies, including an obscure one from his childhood he hadn't seen in years.

They arrived in the parlour, where they went to order immediately upon arrival. He took note she was ordering a sundae with a strawberry syrup on top of it: it seemed she liked this fruit. He didn't exactly know why it mattered so much, but if he had to take a guess, he'd say he hoped to thank her back for caring for him when he had come down with overwork yet again.

As they sat down, he took notice of something else: her phone's case was worn out, probably from how old it was. He knew money didn't buy friends, but if he could just give her something useful in her face, he'd consider it. Perhaps his parents' money would finally be useful…

They were back in front of the apartment lot. Kaede had an important meeting she had to attend, thus why they were ending the afternoon early.

"I'm sorry for the short notice," she apologized as he unbuckled. "I wish we had more time, I had a fantastic time with you! Let's do it again soon, okay?"

"I had a wonderful time too. We definitely have to do it again one day."

"Next time, I'm inviting you, and on a fully day! Well, if you're okay with it, at least."

He shined her his most genuine smile.

"I'll be okay with it!"

Kaede laughed softly as she showed him her phone.

"Let's stay in contact meanwhile, okay? Text me anytime you want, for whatever, okay?"

"Then do the same with me, please."

They said each other their last goodbyes before he went in and back to his flat.

There was some kind of… weird feeling inside of him. It was an unfamiliar warmth, clouding his brain, gently enlacing his heart. He felt very happy inside, as if dopamine had just rushed through his entire body. The events of the day played again and again in his head.

Kaito was waiting for him in the couch, his laptop in front of him on the coffee table, Maki sitting right next to him.

"So, how was ya date bro?" he asked with a giant grin.

"You were on a date?" Maki asked too, her face completely flat. "I thought you were too shy to ask anyone out."

"It wasn't a date! We just spent an afternoon to get to know each other… We're friends, not dating…"

"Yeah, sure," Kaito replied. "I'm sure Kaede only sees ya as a 'friend' too!"

"W-well yeah…! That's what we are! _Friends_!"

Realizing he was probably radioactively blushing, he went back to his room, with only one thought in mind: text Kaede again.


	6. For You, I'd Give Up My Life

A couple months had passed, and yet Kaito still called this one Sunday afternoon a "date", no matter how many times Shuichi tried to correct him on the platonic nature of said afternoon. Lucky for him, he started work again, which meant he had less time to spend in their flat and, as such, had less chances to get asked stupid questions about how Kaede was his future wife.

He had continued sending her messages. They were getting along: she would give him music recommendations and advice to be more confident, he would share with her books he liked and silly work stories. She seemed to especially like those who involved misunderstandings: she told him she liked the suspense they created, only for each other to discover the other was actually faithful. According to her, it was a way to show how deep their affection was.

At work, people had somehow got a hold on the fact he now had a confirmed soulmate. His uncle was the first one to pride himself in: he talked about he was going to have a "niece-in-law" one of these days. Shuichi took it as no more than a light-hearted joke: after all, they were all working with cases ranging from petty pet disappearances to gruesome murders, there had to be a way for them to unwind when things got too dark.

Kaede Akamatsu had become one of the trendy topics of the office. Not only because she was a celebrity who had sent them her own case herself, but because she was also his soulmate. For them, it was crazy to think their client had been linked all along to the young sleuth of the agency. He let them talk: if it was their way to unwind, it was fine by him.

Shuichi was thinking of all of this as he was sitting in the college's café, sipping on a cup of coffee. A lot had happened in the span of a trimester… Sometimes, he surprised himself zoning out just like he had just done: he just hoped nobody noticed how lost his gaze must had been. He was about to send Kaede another text – since she appeared in his thoughts again, he must have remembered to send her something – before a familiar voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Shuichi, can I sit down next to you?"

He looked up to meet the unhidden eye of Kirumi, who was holding what he could only guess was a steaming cup of tea.

"Oh, sure, go ahead!"

She sat down on the stool right next to his, next the window giving a view on the campus.

"How have you been, Shuichi?" she asked him as she gave him a small smile. "We have not spent time with each other in a while."

"That's true… I'm doing fine, college and work are going smoothly. And you?"

Kirumi blushed slightly, looked aside as her smile extended and hid the bottom side of her face with her hand.

"This is excellent, then. I have been good too, although I do have some doubts about my feelings at the moment… Do you mind discussing these with me, Shuichi? You are both someone understanding and who will keep things secret."

"Sure thing."

He noticed the blush on her face increasing in intensity.

"I think I have come to the realization that I may be in love…"

"What makes you think so?"

"When I think of this person, my heart starts to pound… And, well, I think of this person more and more. I want to make them happy and stay with them as much as possible, but on the other hand, I am afraid it may not be reciprocated… However, they are very selfless, so I need to protect them."

Shuichi didn't have to ask to know exactly who she was speaking about.

"What do you like about them?" he asked instead.

"They are very gentle and caring. I have told them multiple times not to worry so much for me, yet they keep asking me every day if I am doing fine, what I want and if I want us to spend time together. Despite the appearances, they are truly charming… Your question is tough, Shuichi, because I feel like I love everything about them…"

Kirumi hid her face in her hands.

"Oh Lord… I do think I am in complete love with them…"

Shuichi had a feeling her distress wasn't one-sided but kept on asking questions.

"What makes you think they may not love you back, then?"

"W-well… I am a fairly discreet person who has given her life to serve people. I am a maid devoted to the people close to her. Nobody would fall in love with their maid, at least, not in the way I love them…"

He smiled to her.

"I'm sure this person loves you as you are, Kirumi. They just may not realize it yet."

"Oh, Shuichi, you are one optimistic soul… But I should be as hopeful as you are. I should not give up on him so soon, this would be underestimating his kindness towards me. What do you think I shall do, then?"

Shuichi paused for a minute or so, thinking of what course of action she should take.

"Perhaps you should tell him about it, or at least mention the topic of love with him. I'm sure he'll at least be comprehensive, right?"

"Him? Have… have I accidentally revealed the identity of my loved one?"

"To be honest, I've had my idea ever since you came up to me with the topic. It's about Gonta, isn't it?"

He had never seen the usually collected young woman blushing that much. She simply gulped.

" _Touché_."

Instead of getting amused at such a flustered and uncommon sighing coming from Kirumi, he went for continuing his advice.

"Gonta's a very nice guy, you know. I'm certain he'll understand your feelings and try his best at making you feel better about these. You don't have to blame yourself for falling for him either: he's just a very cool person. He can be intimidating, at times but-"

"Gonta is not a scary person!" Kirumi reacted with a hint of violence in her tone. "He is just misunderstood because of his strong appearance!"

"That's…" Shuichi barely dared replying. "That's what I was about to say…"

She looked away immediately.

"My… My apologies… I got carried away… I beg your pardon."

"It's… it's all right…"

She then took a deep breath. The determination he had seen in her visible eye when she had come over the identity of her soulmate was back.

"I will not run away any longer. I will confess to him."

Kaito was sitting in the college's lounge with Gonta when his phone vibrated. He knew for sure his phone was on Silent aside from his three emergency contacts: Maki, Shuichi, and Gonta himself. It couldn't be the latter, since he was right there next to him. Curious, he checked what was so important for his phone to shake: a text message from his bro. Upon opening it, Kaito truly thanked his phone for telling him.

" _Kaito? I know you're with Gonta, but can I ask you a question? I've just talked with Kirumi about something."_

As Gonta was rambling happily about his bug friends, Kaito managed to sneak a reply and send it in Shuichi's way.

"Sure thing bro! What's it?"

He received a reply quickly after. Bless his bro for typing so fast on a phone keyboard.

" _Kirumi just told me she was going to confess to Gonta. I'm afraid it'll be awkward if he doesn't get what she means, so… You think it'll be okay?"_

Now that was a bit trickier to reply to.

"I think so. Gonta isn't that dense. Just in case I'll bring the topic up k? When will she do that?"

Another quick reply.

" _She hasn't told me a precise moment, but I'm pretty sure she said asap. It may be right after class, as far as I know. Thank you very much, Kaito."_

"You're welcome bro! Now don't worry and let me take care of it, k?"

Kaito slipped his phone back in his pocket again, crossed his arms and took the coolest pose he could think of. He needed to have some panache if he wanted to come across as anything other than a fucking creep.

"Hey, Gonta, I need to ask ya something!"

The taller young man seemed surprised.

"What do you want to ask me, Kaito?"

"How's it goin' with Kirumi?"

Gonta immediately started to blush, looking away and fiddling with his fingers.

"Huh… Gonta has spoken a lot with Kirumi lately! We're getting along a lot and Gon… I really like to talk to her! But… Gonta thinks there's something else to it…"

Kaito felt his eyebrow quirk. The hook was there, as obvious as it was every single time Shuichi brought up Kaede.

"What 'somethin' else' ya talkin' about?"

"Gonta… I'm not sure! It makes my heart beat faster and I think about her a lot, but I'm not sure! People have teased me on it being love, but it can't be, right? It takes heroic acts or a long time for people to be in love!"

The astronaut scratched his nose. He truly couldn't prevent a shit-eating grin from appearing on his face.

"To be honest, it sounds like ya havin' the biggest crush on her! Man, what makes ya think ya not fallin' for Kirumi?"

Gonta seemed to think of a reply very hard, squinting his eyes and rubbing his chin as if he was straight of one of Shuichi's mystery novels.

"Well… For one, Gonta doesn't know what love is!" He then corrected his grammar. "I'd be in love if I knew what it was! And, second, huh… He doesn't see Kirumi as anything than his very good friend!"

God was that guy dense!

"Okay," he switched approaches, "lemme ask somethin' else. How would ya react if Kirumi dated anyone else?"

Another pose of deep thinking later, the reply was typical Gonta stuff… at first.

"I'd be happy for Kirumi! She deserves love and kindness. But, if they dared hurting her… Gonta would protect her with his life! He swears it on his life!"

"What do ya mean by protectin'? What makes ya think ya would be better?"

"I'm Kirumi's soulmate! I guess that makes me a bit more valid than anyone else, but… Gonta really understands her! She told him so multiple times before!"

He looked down, blush creeping on his cheeks, expression dimming down.

"I… I really like Kirumi… She's like no one else I've met… She's kind, caring and clever, but she never thinks of herself, so I need to protect her!"

Kaito knew he just had one sentence left and it would be the ultimate realization for his friend.

"Sounds like ya have a big fat crush on her to me, buddy!"

And, sure thing, Gonta's face did twist like he had just realized something.

"Does it mean that... I'm in love with Kirumi…?"

The future entomologist hid his face between his hands. Kaito had to step in.

"Hey, Gonta… Don't be such a downer! Ya sound like ya got rejected when ya haven't even told her about ya feelings!"

"But what if it embarrasses Kirumi… Gonta doesn't want to embarrass her…"

"C'mon, ya such a downer, ya sound like Shuichi! If ya don't dare to do anything, someone may take her away from ya before ya realize it!"

"But…"

"She won't mind! Just go for it, buddy! Ya have nothin' to lose and everything to win from this! Instead of imaginin' she won't like ya back, just imagine the possibility she does!"

Gonta's eyes started sparkling again. He nodded with energy.

"I'll do this! I'll tell Kirumi how I feel about her so I can protect her from anybody who would try to hurt her! It's my duty as a gentleman!"

Kaito was having yet another shit-eating grin on his face.

"That's more like it! Go for it, buddy! Ya'll reach the stars that way! I'll be with ya on this and I'm sure Shuichi is too!"

"You're right! I will tell her tonight after class! But I need to prepare myself, if you'll excuse me!"

Gonta got up from his chair and ran to the exit. Kaito didn't need to ask why he was in such a hurry: he knew perfectly it was because he needed to whisper to a bug or two how nervous he was, but how exciting the prospect of spending his days with her was.

As soon as he was sure Gonta wasn't in the lounge anymore, he got his phone out again.

"Mission Crush was a success, Commander Saihara!"

Kirumi had settled for her strongest façade as she wandered around the campus's gardens. Hand on her chest, right over her pounding heart, she searched for someone in particular. She truly felt nervous about the entire ordeal: she had never confessed her love to anyone else before. She had made pledges of fidelity to all of her dear friends, Gonta included, but she didn't know how exactly she would dare in a declaration of love.

She spotted him next to a bush, a purple butterfly on his finger. He seemed bothered, if not pained, by something. For a moment, she felt her determination quiver, but she shook her head slightly and decided to go for it anyway. Perhaps she could even help him out with what was bothering him.

Once right in front of him, she gently kneeled down to his level. He then noticed her.

"Oh, Kirumi, you're here! How are you?"

"I am doing perfectly fine, Gonta. Thank you for asking. How about you?"

"I've learnt how to help a butterfly with a broken wing today! He's already flying up in the sky as we speak!"

"It is very nice to hear. However, I am afraid I have something to tell you."

The small smile on her face was gone as she got up, giving a hand to her friend. He took it, perhaps per courtesy, and got up too.

"What do you have to tell Gonta about, Kirumi? He hopes it's nothing too serious…"

"Well... I am deeply afraid this is quite the serious matter. I, however, wish for you not to be scared."

"I'm all ears. Plus… I've got something to tell you too, Kirumi."

"I will gladly listen to it."

She crossed her arms, trying to find in herself the strength to come clean with what had run through her head for longer than she could have ever expected it to: perhaps it amounted to before she had discovered they were soulmates. She had always found herself wanting to speak to him, ever since he had first greeted her to school, back during the visits of the different colleges she could have joined.

A quick look up made her realize Gonta seemed troubled too. Perhaps she should let him speak before her: after all, he seemed bother before she came to him. He may have had more important matters on his chest he needed to vent to her about. Why was this so complicated? Why had she never learnt how to say "I love you"?

Their eyes eventually locked to each other. She felt an unusual flame raging inside his otherwise kind eyes. But she didn't quiver. She had to stay strong, for him, for herself, for her feelings. They both said at the same time the exact same sentence:

"I swear to forever protect you!"

A short silence followed. They were both stunned by what had just happened, clearly. What had just happened anyway? How was it possible for them to think of saying the other the exact same thing at the exact same time?

They stayed silent for what felt like hours. Kirumi didn't know how to break the ice off: she was both stunned and happy at the same time, because it seemed like he truly meant these words. He truly meant to protect her from what could harm her, just like she swore to protect him from what could possibly hurt him, just in case. Why would anyone even want to hurt such a nice, kind individual?

"Ah, huh…" Gonta was the first to speak up again. "I'm very happy you want to protect me, Kirumi!"

"I am very honoured to hear you want to secure my well-being, Gonta," she found herself replying genuinely. What an amusing coincidence for our minds to be so closely coordinated."

He scratched the back of his head and laughed lightly. Lord, she did love this laugh to the point of desiring to treasure it.

In fact, she loved everything about him. She loved his smile, his laugh, his passion for bugs, his gentlemanliness, his kindness, his selflessness, his appearance, his personality, his mind, his soul and his name written on her very skin.

For the time in her life, Kirumi could truly say she would trade her life for someone else's. She had usually sworn her life for her friends and people who mattered to her. She wouldn't hesitate to jump as to protect someone else. However, it was different in his case: she just wouldn't protect him with her life, she would gladly give it up if it was for his greater good.

"What I meant to say was," she continued on her tracks, "that… That you mean a lot to me, Gonta."

"You mean a lot to me too, Kirumi! I don't want to ever lose you!"

"It seems as if we think of each other in similar ways, is it not? Then, I guess it is fine for me to admit it…"

She took a deep breath again, feeling her heartbeats resonate inside her throat, and so did he. They were in fact so close she could hear his breathing loud and clear.

They locked into each other's gaze again as they, one more time, said the same sentence at the same time.

"I love you!"

They stared at each other yet again. This time, the air around them was so much different: she felt a wave of relief and excitement wash all over her. His eyes sparkled into hers. Taken by an impulse she hadn't felt coming, she launched himself into his arms. His arms caught her up immediately as he swung her in the air.

"I'm so happy!" he said as he shined her his biggest smile yet, a smile she truly wanted to treasure.

"So… So am I…!" she replied, trying to retain tears of joy inside.

He put her back to the ground, right before holding her right next to his chest. She let herself lean against it without much care. She, truly, felt at her place by his side and it was also his case. Tears eventually fell down her cheeks: they were the best tears to ever come from her eyes.

"I would trade my life for yours" came to her mind during this instant, but she knew this wasn't the right thing to think. She was now certain she would sadden him was she to die anytime soon: instead, a new sentence came to her mind. A sentence she could only agree with.

"I would spend my life with you."


	7. Good Night Awesome

If Shuichi had to notice something different in his flat, it was how strangely clean it was. He was used to seeing Kaito's stuff all over the place, from his room to their living room-kitchen hybrid main room. In fact, Shuichi even noticed several times Kaito insisting on having a clean place. This truly was odd coming from his flatmate: usually, Shuichi was the one cleaning most things as long as it didn't involve huge dust bunnies.

No matter what, he couldn't come up with a plausible reason as to why his best friend had changed vision on their place's cleanness so quickly. It was as if he had come back from training one day, only to decide he didn't want to have dishes undone for more than a couple hours.

While Shuichi had made it clear his body couldn't stand dust (well, _his body_ had made it clear no matter if he wanted so or not), he also couldn't remember a time where he even complained about it openly. Perhaps it was just him overthinking his best friend's kindness: despite his jock appearances, Kaito truly was a generous and well-meaning person who would always notice when one of his friends wasn't feeling good.

However, this was a truly sudden change of mind he was witnessing there. He hadn't gotten any important asthma attack in months, thanks to adopting some good habits from Kaito, Kirumi and Kaede alike and their landlord hadn't cussed a ruckus in ages. Why was Kaito a clean freak so suddenly.

Well, if you can't get an answer from thinking alone, you have to ask, don't you?

Shuichi poked his head in the abnormally-clean room of his roommate.

"Kaito, can I ask you something quickly?"

The spiky-haired young man rose his head from his drawers, then shone him a bright smile.

"Sure thing bro! Whatcha curious about?"

"You're really cautious about cleaning lately. Is there any reason why so, or is it just me?"

"Oh, that…" He scratched the back of his head. "Maki Roll's gonna stay a night or two here soon, so…" His cheeks' blush increased in intensity with each moment passing. "I'm making sure she'll feel comfortable around here, that's all!"

That didn't really solve his question.

"I mean," Shuichi continued, "Maki's been here a hundred time before. Why is this any different?"

"W-well, ya see, bro… S-sometimes, when ya in a couple, ya want to make the evenin' really romantic, and…"

The literature student's eyebrows twitched.

"You're really finding pretty words to say you're probably going to have sex in this flat."

The face Kaito to this made was _priceless_ , to the point Shuichi found himself to be immensely amused by his reaction.

"B-bro! I'm not used to ya bein' so straightforward! Ya supposed to be dense 'bout all that jazz!"

"You can say it, you know. I'm twenty, not ten," he replied with kind of a deadpan in his voice. "My parents don't hesitate to talk about their sexual life in front of me the rare times I see them. I prefer knowing that to finding feminine underwear in our dirty laundry…"

"To be honest, I'm reassured," Kaito got some of his composure back. "That means ya not as dense and as disconnected from love life as ya sound like, Shuichi!"

"…It's true, but that's kind of offensive anyway…"

The taller man got up and walked to his flatmate before giving his shoulder a strong pat.

"C'mon, it's not like ya any better, right? Ya still don't notice ya in love with that pretty soulmate of yours!"

"I've told you a hundredth times before, Kaede isn't my girlfriend! We're close friends, but that's it! _Friends_!"

His protests would have been more credible would his face not have heated up as he was saying that, but that was a detail. Thing was, he wasn't in love with Kaede. He wasn't as bad as his parents who had married barely months after meeting each other as soulmates. He was better than this, and Kaede was better than this.

"Yeah, and I don't date Maki Roll! Ya just in denial, Shuichi!"

He just rolled his eyes. But, perhaps he should reconsider if that was either some tease or if it was founded on something…

Kaito did switch the topic around, fortunately.

"What about ya introduce us to her, by the way? I'm sure our friends are dyin' to see who ya matched with!"

"Oh, that's not a bad idea… I'll ask Kaede if she's available anytime soon. I've heard she already knows Kirumi, so she probably knows about Gonta, but I don't know if she's already met the others. Just… don't annoy her with that topic, okay? I want her to be considered a friend, not my potential girlfriend!"

"You said 'potential girlfriend', bro."

"Urgh…"

" _Hello?"_

"Kirumi? It's Kaede."

She was standing in her room, her phone on her ear, staring directly into a mirror. She was already lucky her friend had gotten the call: usually, Kirumi was very busy with so much other stuff. To the list her boyfriend recently arrived: the lovable and gentle Gonta was one of the best people she had ever spoken too, despite his… strange obsession with bugs. As long as they didn't touch her, and as long as Kirumi was happy with him…

" _Oh, it is you, Kaede. How have you been?"_

"Well, I've been just fine, but… I think I have a problem."

" _If you do not mind telling me,"_ Kirumi's tone dropped into concern quickly, _"what is this problem? I may be able to help you with it."_

"Well, I'm… I think I fell in love and, well, I know you're aware of what it is thanks to Gonta…"

" _Then, if you need my help sorting out your feelings, I am all ears and gladly so."_

"Thank you so much, Kirumi…"

She sat down on her bed, clutching her phone in one hand and the other on her breast.

"I've told you already about Shuichi, right? Yeah, I probably compliment him at least twice a day, haha… Well, he has invited me to a small party with his friends from college…"

" _I know this. I have been invited to it, if it makes you feel any easier about this. I can guarantee you they are all nice persons."_

"I'm sure they are, I've met his roommate the same day we met, and he was a very cool guy. But… I'm unsure if I should accept or not. I'm… feeling a bit awkward, frankly."

Kaede gulped.

"Kirumi, I think I'm in love with Shuichi."

She heard what sounded like a soft snicker on the other side of the line.

" _I thought so too."_

God, that was both astonishing and so embarrassing!

"L-like how did you come to that conclusion?!"

" _I have never seen you with Shuichi, but you love him fondly. You always make sure to know if he is doing good, asking him about his studies and his job, reminding him not to overwork himself… He is quite the worrisome person, since he is rather selfless, but you have never minded what other people would have called his flaws. Your eyes shine like the sea when you think, speak or hear about him."_

"God, that's so cliché, though… Falling in your love with your soulmate… How do you live it so well?"

" _How so? It happens often, but it does not mean it is any cliché. I love Gonta not because he is my soulmate, but because he is a very gentle person with an infinite kindness and an endearing interest in entomology and gentlemanliness."_

She had the exact reasons why she was so uncomfortable with the idea in her mind.

"It's because Shuichi's very uncomfortable with the matter… He's told me his parents are soulmates and that they married barely months after meeting each other. They actually don't love each other to have a stable family together, thus why they've never cared much for him. I don't want to impose that on him…"

" _As such, I assume you think he would mind staying with you because of his past. Am I wrong?"_

"N-no, that's exactly how I'm seeing the situation… I'm not even sure he loves me the way I love him…"

Her hand gripped her shirt. Her heart started to ache.

"We're close friends, I can tell, but I have a feeling he may not like me back… He often says he doesn't see how anyone would choose to date him, but he's a very nice guy who always thinks of others before himself. I think he isn't in love with anyone, yet alone me, the piano freak…"

" _Is this why you hesitate to tell him?"_

"Yeah… I don't want to spoil our friendship because I fell in love with him. Imagine if he really doesn't see me as anything other than that? I just don't want to lose him to something as stupid as a crush that'd make him uncomfortable…"

Another soft giggle came from Kirumi. Why was she so amused?

" _Kaede, I am certain Shuichi has a better point of view on soulmates since he has met Kaito and you. To him, Kaito and his girlfriend represent what matched soulmates should actually be about. He is someone who may not have a lot of experience in romance, but I am sure he will accept your confession and, in the case it is not reciprocated, he will surely remain your friend."_

"I shouldn't be such a coward about this. I'll… I'll tell him. I'll go to the party as to meet everyone, and then I'll tell him I love him. Thank you so much for listening to me, Kirumi."

A small smile appeared on her lips.

"See you next Saturday."

The party took place in a small fast-food place Kaito knew the owner of. According to him, the latter was a high school friend of his he helped start the business of by working part-time there during his last year of high school and first year of college. And, still according to Kaito, he hadn't sold his soul to the restaurant, but he still thought it was a good compromise between good food and good prices.

All Shuichi hoped was that Kaede, who seemed to be accustomed to a richer way of life than any of them, didn't mind eating some burger and fries for a night. He was the first one to get there with Kaito, since the astronaut-to-be wanted to make sure they had a table for them and them alone. He didn't want anyone to crash in and be an annoyance to everyone involved.

Tenko and Himiko arrived next. The former had her girlfriend on her back in a piggyback ride, while said girlfriend waved hello to the two boys. They had both made themselves look a bit fancier than they usually were: Tenko had her hair in a ponytail while Himiko didn't wear her iconic hat. Upon getting asked why, she replied "she didn't want to scare off the new girl with her _magic_ ".

Tenko, in an effort to maintain a healthy diet, made sure to check the menu as to find something not too greasy to order once the time to do so would arrive.

"So," she turned her head from the menu to Shuichi, "it's tonight that we meet your soulmate, right?"

"Yeah. I'm still happy Kaede accepted the invitation, since I know she's usually busy with her job… She told me she was looking forward to meet everyone."

"Speaking of her," Kaito jumped in the conversation, "she's going to arrive here alone or with someone else?"

"She told me Kirumi and she were friends, so I think she's coming here with Gonta and her."

"The world sure is a small place, huh!"

Maki arrived shortly after. Kaito, as excited as ever to see her, took her into a hug immediately. Everyone knew that, despite her "you truly are an insensitive idiot"-like sentences, she was the first one to gladly accept a hug from him. After all, with her intensive training, she was completely able to free herself from his arms, if so she desired.

"Hey, you filthy degenerate!" The aikidoka chimed in as she got into a battling position, "Leave my Maki alone if she doesn't want your hugs!"

"Tenko", Maki immediately responded as she slowly broke apart from her boyfriend. "I've told you many times Kaito isn't a degenerate. He's an idiot, but he's not a degenerate."

"I'm surprised Kaito takes being called an idiot so well…" Himiko commented.

"He's just used to it. That's Maki's way of saying she loves her," Shuichi replied. Well, at least that was why he thought was the answer.

"Be quiet and keep your mouth shut," Maki glared at him. "You're making it sound cheesy."

"Hello everyone!"

A joyful voice interrupted into their conversation and made them all turn their heads towards the source of it: Gonta, Kirumi, whose hand he was holding as if they were walking into a ball, and Kaede. They were all, just like Tenko and Himiko, slightly more dressed than usual.

However, Shuichi had his eyes entirely glued on Kaede, as if he couldn't take them off her. Everything about her was beautiful: her hair tied in a low ponytail on her shoulder, her short laced pink dress, her subtle makeup and, as always, her sparkling eyes and her bright smile. She seemed truly happy to be here, by her friend's side.

"Hello everyone," Kirumi said as the three of them walked up to the other guests. "I hope you have had a wonderful time today."

"Hi everybody!" Kaede then said as she waved at them.

"Hi ya three!" Kaito reacted with a grin on his face. "Glad ya could all make it!"

Everyone else added their own hellos to the pile, including Shuichi himself, who shook his head off as to face his two other friends.

Kaede went ahead, bowed to them and smiled warmly at the other people.

"I'm Kaede Akamatsu, and it's a pleasure to meet everyone! Kirumi and Shuichi have told me a lot of nice things about you, so you all sound like very cool people! I hope we all get along!"

The others took their time to introduce themselves to her.

"I'm Tenko Chabashira! I'm the proud co-founder of Neo-Aikido, the proud girlfriend of Himiko and a student in the same college as Kirumi and Shuichi! Glad to meet ya!"

"I'm the great Himiko Yumeno… I'm an experienced mage… In the same college as everyone else…"

Kaede seemed surprised by her mage leitmotiv, but still replied with a simple "nice to meet you two".

"Ya met me already, but lemme introduce myself one more time! I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, and Shuichi's bro!"

"And I'm Maki Harukawa, a friend of Shuichi and this idiot's girlfriend."

"Idiot?" Kaede got a bit startled.

"It is closer to an affectionate pet name than to an actual insult," Kirumi indicated.

"I think ya know Kirumi and Gonta already, right?" Kaito added. "Then, that's it! Let's all sit down and discuss what everyone orders! We'll split the price evenly amongst ourselves later!"

Everyone approved in unison and went to do just what he had said.

Every single one of Shuichi's fears prior to the evening were dissolved rapidly: Kaede didn't mind eating fast-food affordable for students like his friends and him, she got along with everyone at the table, even joining Maki in poking at Kaito and trying her best to keep up with Tenko's energic blurbs of life stories and Himiko's mage-speak. Everybody around the table knew her ferocious and feral familiar was no more than the lazy and pudgy Powder the tabby.

Kaede told them all some bits of herself too. She told stories of some of her recitals, to the wonder of everyone else on the table (even Maki found herself to be enticed), a few anecdotes from what it feels like to be famous in the piano world and some facts about her friendship with Kirumi.

"So…" Tenko suddenly shifted topics from Kaito's clean freak tendencies. "You're Shuichi's soulmate, right?"

"Yes! Originally, I had hired a detective from the Saihara office for the robbery of my bedroom…"

"Wait, your bedroom got robbed, Kaede?!" Gonta instantly worried.

"Yeah… They've found the culprit since then, and it's been fine ever since, but it still shocked me at first. I wanted to hire a detective who wouldn't see my case as simply a way to get a huge sum of money for their personal interests, so I picked Shuichi as I saw he was a student."

"You mean you… hired him because he was broke…?" Himiko asked.

"Well, that's a way to put it, but that's kind of why I picked him and not his uncle."

"I see… That way, he wouldn't request a huge amount of money…"

"Wait, ya implyin' my bro's greedy?!" Kaito reacted with a hint of offense in his voice. "How dare ya slander my bro like that!"

"Would you shut it a little? Everyone's starting at us," Maki brought her boyfriend back to Earth.

"Ah, right! Sorry, Maki Roll!"

Kaede cleared her throat again as she resumed her story. That was when Shuichi realized he had never told the others how they had found out about being soulmates.

"Shuichi took care of investing my room without ever making too much noise, but he was so into his job I had to cut him out of it for a lunch break! We ate together, discussed some things and stuff, before he got up and that was when our eyes met. His cap fell to the floor because he got dizzy, so I caught him, and… then it happened. Our eyes locked and the names were written on our wrists. At this very moment, I knew we would never be the same ever again."

"I did not feel dizzy when Gonta and I discovered we were soulmates… How come you have been taken by such a spell, Shuichi?" Kirumi asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Oh, huh…" He laughed, awkward. "I was a bit sick on that day, so I already had a fever going on. It just took me by surprise…"

Kaede crossed her arms, pouting.

"You still have to take care of yourself more, Shuichi! We've been trying to teach you that for months now!"

"I know, I know…"

She put her fingers on his face, around his eyes.

"You still have dark rings… And you're still so pale! God, you really need to get it together and start sleeping more and work less! If I have to watch you, I'll just live with you so I can be sure you're being good with yourself!"

She then proceeded to blush heavily. Perhaps because what she had just said was, objectively, rather embarrassing to hear. His own cheeks were heating up, after all. She looked away and went back to her seat.

"Just take care of yourself more, okay? You'll get us less worried if you do so!"

"I'll try my best…"

The discussion resumed thanks to Kaito remembering a silly time where his class played the werewolf game in high school. Between stories of betrayal and killing their teacher on the first night, Shuichi was, admittedly, lost in the echo. He didn't get much of what was going on anymore because, in fact, his mind was somewhere else entirely.

When Kaede told him to take care of himself, going as far as to _touch his face_ with her delicate fingers, he felt weird. When she said she was ready to watch over him, to live with him, his stomach felt strange. He had only felt that way around her, ever. Was that what it meant to have a soulmate?

Shuichi excused himself out, going to the bathroom on unsteady legs. There was a sour and bitter feeling in the back of his throat, like the aftertaste of citric candies, something he had never tasted before and of which he wanted to get rid of. It felt especially nasty the more he thought about it. He felt like he needed to cool himself off.

Once in the bathroom, he could have a good look at himself in the mirror: he looked redder than white, despite the bags under his eyes he couldn't deny. His grip on the sink was shaky. He sprayed his face with water, hoping his current reasoning was only a fluke and that it was his brain overheating to the point of pulling out stupid shit.

But, inside, Shuichi knew very well he couldn't brush off the feeling. That feeling he didn't want, because it was nasty and he just… rejected it. He didn't want it.

He didn't want to be in love with her.

Yet, there he was, contemplating his reflection in a dirty mirror, panting and feeling like he wanted to vomit his own ego out.

It was real. He couldn't brush it off.

He was _in love_ with _Kaede_ and it was _undeniable_.

Contemplating what was now in his heart, in his mind, in his body, he realized Kaito had been right all along. That what Gonta felt for Kirumi, that what Tenko felt for Himiko, that what Maki felt for Kaito, that what Kirumi felt for Gonta, that what Himiko felt for Tenko and that what Kaito felt for Maki… He felt the same thing for Kaede. All along, he had just been blind to his own feelings.

And it hurt. It hurt, because there was no way someone like Kaede, leagues over him, could be in love with him, soulmates or not. Because soulmates loving each other was still a cliché to him. A cliché his parents tried to feed the world.

Shuichi drenched his face again. He had to calm down, otherwise someone would ask him what was wrong. He didn't want to spoil the evening's mood with his stupid feelings. He wasn't ready to face everyone about the new insight he had on his vision of Kaede.

She wasn't just a friend. She wasn't just a close friend. She was his soulmate and he was in an unredeemable love with her.

He was about to leave the bathroom, his face dry again, when his phone buzzed. He looked at it thinking it was a text Kaito had sent him. To his surprise, it was a call. He got it, might as well reply to a call when he was already alone. He didn't recognize the number, but still got it."

"Hello?"

"Yes, it's me."

"I have a few minutes in front of me. Why so?"

Shuichi almost dropped his phone.


	8. Happy Mothers Day

Shuichi could barely believe what he had just been told. In fact, it sounded so crazy that he was at first convinced it was some kind of sick joke. The voice on the other side of the line had sounded familiar before: he was now certain it was his parents' agent. A guy he had seen just as much as them, in short, if his memory wasn't failing him. His hand was still shaking, his fingers barely holding onto his phone.

He didn't know if he had just gulped his pride, the fact he was in love with Kaede or that very piece of news.

He got out of the bathroom, only to see the girl herself standing near the door. God, he wasn't ready to face her again. Not with the almost-taste of bile in the back of his throat. He was lucky he wasn't already crying his eyes out, after all. Perhaps he should just deal with it and stop being so emotional. Everyone had been just fine dealing with their own soulmates, why would his case be any different?

"Ah, Shuichi!" Kaede said as she twirled to face him. "We were getting worried, so I came to fetch you…"

She stopped for a few moments, her face turning into growing concern.

"Are you alright? You don't look like you're doing so good… Did I offend you earlier?"

God, even when she was worried she was beautiful. How did it come that she was soothing to hear and see when she was the reason he was choking on his own feelings barely minutes ago? This truly was a paradox he wished he knew the answer to.

"N-no, it's not that, it's… Huh…"

He needed to tell someone else about this. It was just too heavy for him to solely bear.

"You mind going outside with me? I need to tell you something… But, I mean, I understand if you want to stay with the others…"

"You look awfully shaken… Let's find a calm spot, okay? You'll tell me there."

They both made their way out of the restaurant and to a calm, grassy spot not too far from there. Night had already arrived: she was holding his hand, probably not realizing so, as he guided her there in the darkness and the few lit streetlights not too far from them. He wanted nobody but her to listen to his pleas for help.

They sat on the dry grass, facing a small pond, under the white-dotted black sky. He only noticed at this very moment it was the full moon, as it gently lit her face. The calm breeze made the atmosphere feel serene when, in his mind, it was all a turmoil of feelings and sensations twirling on itself. He was downright lost, but he hoped that, even if he kept his feelings secret from her, she would guide him out of this mess.

"So," Kaede asked in a soft tone, gently squeezing his hand, "what did you need to tell me? Don't worry for how I'm going to react, please. I just feel like you have to let something out…"

"Hum… It's because I just learnt something and, huh… I… I really shouldn't dump that on you, but…"

"I said, don't worry for me! Just say it, okay? If you don't mind, that is."

Shuichi took a deep breath, feeling his heart ache in a thousand different directions. In fact, it was closer to a vine having taken hold of it and planting a myriad of thorns right into his feelings.

"The thing is… When I went to the bathroom, I got a call from a familiar man. It turns out that… That…"

His voice was stumbling upon every word he meant to get out. Every single one of them. How so?

"My parents have just died."

Kaede gasped at this. Truly, he didn't expect her to take the matter lightly, especially since she knew about his tough time with his family, but her shock still hurt to witness. His heart had, truly, a very rough time over there, split between his guilt over this and the sudden news.

"I'm… I'm so sorry to hear this… My apologies…"

"It's okay, they just got confirmed dead. I… I didn't get a lot of details, but… They were in a life-or-death condition after a car crash, and… And…"

Shuichi put his hands on his face. His tears were ugly and, despite how vulnerable he was at the moment, he didn't want to curse his soulmate with the sight of them. He thought it would sadden her too: she cared for him as a friend and, truly, nobody liked seeing their friends cry.

He felt a supportive arm wrap itself around his shoulders.

"I… I don't know what to think… It's so sudden and out of nowhere, I… I don't feel like I'm…"

He bit his lip.

"I'm not ready to be an orphan… That sounds so selfish, I'm sorry… I'm… I'm kind of a mess over there…"

Being so clean about his feelings was a whole new experience in itself. He was usually reserved, especially when it affected him so badly, but there he was. Crying openly about his recent loss.

All Kaede did in response was to bring him against her chest. Without thinking much, he wrapped his own arms around her, leaning against the warmth of her body, feeling the softness of her light jacket and hearing her heartbeats.

"You've just lost your parents, it's normal you feel so scared and shocked… I would be if I learnt from the day to the other that mine died too. Don't feel bad for being in such a state, it's normal to be lost in that kind of situation."

Her voice just made his body untense every time he heard it, as if it was a balm for his emotional wounds. If only it just acted against his sudden feelings of grief too…

"I… I realize I didn't hate them as much as I thought… Why else would I cry…? It's way too late to realize that, though…! They're gone and it's only now that I realize they weren't so bad… Like, sure, they've never been around much… but they did try to help out my uncle raise me… I guess they were just confused about parenting and… forgot a child needs affection too…"

Kaede's grip on him strengthened.

"They deserved better than such a violent and sudden death… They weren't good parents… but they weren't bad people either…"

All Shuichi could do after a while was sobbing. Deep inside himself, a part of him still loved his parents for the few good memories they had brought to him: a few family days, coming back to Japan when he graduated high school, keeping an eye on him during some of his early sick days… However, it turned out that most of him was actually crying because it felt _empty_. The lack of actual attachment to them and the absence of a true, emotional affection from them had left him feeling like only their role towards him, their occupation mattered.

Come to think of it, Shuichi didn't know how his parents were. He didn't know if they were nice or mean people. He didn't know what they liked, disliked, how they enjoyed spending free time or what they did together as a couple. The only things he knew by himself, not just by his uncle's stories about his mother, were that they loved the idea of soulmates and that they weren't good parents at all.

He'd just have to put that all in a past tense, now.

He cried his parents' death as he would have cried a relative's one. To be fair to himself, he didn't know anyone who had lost their parents recently: Kaito had lived with his grandparents as far as he knew, Maki had lived in an orphanage since she was a baby and all the others still had theirs. How did people usually react to such news?

"But, I still feel somewhat empty… I'm sad, but… I feel like I should be sadder than that… It's like I'm sadder of… becoming an orphan than because I… actually lost two important people in my life…"

His voice got so caught up in his throat that he couldn't speak anymore. He had forced himself to stay as strong as possible, even though all he wanted to do was to cry in someone else's arms. As such, all he did was to stay in her embrace, crying, letting go of his forming grief. The situation was downright losing him, but he had a crutch, something to grip as he felt at his lowest in a while, and perhaps something which would help him to go back to his feet once it was time for him to do so.

However, Kaede didn't seem to mind being his shelter for a night, even if she was supposed to have a good time with friends and not console him of his sudden parental loss. He felt secure in her arms, protected from the dangers of the world and from his own harmful feelings. There simply was something about her that made him feel better if she was near him.

They remained in this hug-like lock, feeling her hand pass through his hair, until his sobs calmed down and his sadness had subdued. It wasn't to say he felt nice: Shuichi still felt like a part of his world had broken. Perhaps that was why he was so scared: something he was used to, his parents' almost-presence, was gone forever now. Perhaps he was, most of all, panicked because his world was changing tremendously in the span of a few minutes.

"You're feeling any better?" Kaede asked him as he let go her, slowly going back to a more ordinary sitting position.

"Y-yeah… Once again, sorry for dumping this on you…"

"It's okay! I prefer to know what makes you feel so bad and being able to act on it than ignore it. In this kind of situation, you need comfort and someone to listen to, right? This is why I'm here."

"Thank you so much, Kaede… This means a lot to me…"

She put her hands on his shoulder and locked her eyes into his. His cheeks were heating up by the second.

"Hey, we're friends, right? That's what friends are for! We support each other and, since I know you'll support me if anything happens to me, I'm going to support you through this!"

"Oh, right, I'll have a ton of paperwork to deal with since they must have left behind scripts and screenplay rights… You'll even help me with those?"

"Of course! It's an annoying thing to deal with, but you'll still be pained by the time it comes around, so we'll take care of it together, okay? I'm sure you'll be able to ask Kaito or Kirumi to help you too, even if… It'd matter a lot to me to do it with you…"

He was blushing even more, while she looked away, seemingly embarrassed. This truly wasn't the time to think of how much he loved her and how happy he was to have by his side right this moment, feeling like putting aside his parents' death was disrespecting them, but… It also felt like his heart had cried out so much that it wasn't able to cry anymore for a while.

And, truly, he needed something to make him forget the taste of his own tears and how sore his throat was from the sobs and the cries. He couldn't do much about the situation at the moment: the agent had told him they were waiting for more information and, as his mother's only sibling, his uncle also had a right to the possessions of his parents. In a way, he hoped Uncle Shinichi would take most of it, but he knew the man was better than that and would either split heavenly to give his nephew the majority of what was left behind.

What he wanted to keep hidden from his heart bled out from his mouth.

"I… I'm scared I'm going to lose anyone tomorrow, now… What if, instead of my parents, it's Kaito, or Gonta, or… you, even… I don't want to lose you, Kaede…"

"I'm not going anywhere, so please don't worry… I'll be here for you, Shuichi, even if you don't need my help for anything. Nobody's going anywhere."

"B-but, what if any of you… was in a car crash…? These things happen and are usually violent but brief… What if someone robs you again but tries to get rid of you with it so you can't speak against them…?"

That sentence seemed to have thrown Kaede off-guard. Her face didn't exactly turn pale, but she was clearly disgusted at the prospect of what he implied. It wasn't very tasteful, he had to admit: sure, they had met thanks to that robbery case, but she was terrified when she had realized someone was trying to harm her and what was precious to her. He probably shouldn't have said that.

To his surprise, he didn't get slapped or screamed at. Instead, Kaede pulled him into a strong, tight embrace which felt like it could break his ribcage. A quick glance at her eyes revealed to him she had an almost ferocious look. As he was clutched against her heartbeats, he realized something: in this position, she was physically protecting him from the outside world which had killed his parents and harmed them before.

The warmth Kaede emitted was, by an extraordinary paradox, both reassuring and intimidating: there was a gentle side which cared for him and a rage which wouldn't hesitate to destroy half of the world if it meant getting them both safe. Why did he assume them both, _de facto_ excluding their friends? Maybe it was because they were physically alone together at the moment…

"Are we only friends, though?" she whispered, seemingly to herself, as the hand she had on top of his head extended its fingers through his hair.

"What do you mean…?" he asked back, enticed. This sure was random of her to bring up. "We're close friends, but friends…"

"I know platonic soulmates are a thing, especially among people who were already dating someone, but… Is it really our case? Are we just friends who get along very well?"

She shook her head.

"It's the worst time to bring it up, though… Sorry for that."

"No, it's fine, I… I prefer not to think about that thing until I get more info from their agent… Please continue…"

"You're sure about this?"

"Yeah… I need to stop thinking about it…"

"Sure thing then…"

Shuichi found himself strangely interested. Why would she bring the topic up seemingly out of nowhere, right when they were alone together? Perhaps she was scared he was in love with her, because she would have to tell him it wasn't her case. Kaede was a kind person: she would surely be afraid to break his heart.

From where his head was, he could tell her pulse had quickened when she spoke up about the ideas of them "just being friends". This was kind of starting to sound like she loved him the way he loved her and, well, that was a best-case scenario he wasn't willing to believe in because of the high chances of this hope getting shattered to the ground.

"I've always felt like we had some kind of special link, don't you?" Kaede explained, eyes looking forward in the moonlight. "I mean, that could just be us being soulmates, when I talked Kirumi about it, she told me it was closer to her love for her soulmate rather than their soulmate link in itself…"

"Kaito more or less told me the same…" He added as he gently pulled out from the hug. "Well, when he wasn't teasing be, that is…"

"Teasing you about what?"

"He always calls you my girlfriend, if it's any indication as to the type of teasing I'm thinking about…"

"That's so childish! He's teasing you because you have a female friend, just like when you're in middle school!"

Yet, her body language contradicted her. Instead of looking confident in her denunciation of Kaito's childishness, she adverted her eyes from him and… was she actually blushing? This could only mean two things: she either felt embarrassed from the comment or took it as a compliment of sorts. The prospect of the second hypothesis pleased him more than it should have…

"But…" she then said, "I don't mind being called this, for some reason… It's childish and unnecessary, but I kind of like it…"

"Why such the sudden change of mind? It doesn't sound like you to switch opinions so quickly, Kaede…"

Okay, she was definitively blushing, there was no doubting it.

"W-well… I think this isn't something to tell you about right now, no matter how much you want to forget about _that_ …"

"Please tell me, Kaede. I'm having an idea as to what this is about and I… I need you to shake myself out of it. Please."

He wiped his eyes to take a firmer resolve, as a way to show her she could tell him without getting concerned for his grief. In a way, she'd make the situation easier: she would resolve the growing anxiety his feelings for her had given him.

She took his hands in hers as their eyes met each other. As they rose up together from the ground, he was reading a somewhat familiar determination in her glaze.

"Listen, Shuichi. I couldn't have picked a worst time to tell you this, but I need to confirm to you I'll always be with you, that I'll always support you and that you're not alone in this. Even if something like this has never happened to me, I'll try my best to help you. As such, please accept my words.

Kaede took a deep breath in, breathed out, gulped and locked her eyes into his again.

"Shuichi, you're one of the most important people in my life. You've always been kind, patient and helpful to me, no matter what you had going on. I don't see my life without you as my friend anymore, as if you were always there. You're always here for me and, without you, my life would still be a dull piano piece with a strong emphasis on a soulmate myth. You made soulmates real to my eyes because you're mine and I'm yours. I know this is cliché, but…"

Her fingers squeezed his palms.

"I love you, Shuichi."

The small sentence, despite its shortness, stunned him out of his mind for a few seconds. Did it mean that… his feelings had an alter ego? That his crush, that he was oh so cursing earlier, wasn't unreciprocated? This was… beyond best-case scenario for such a dire situation.

"Kaede, I… I don't know what t-to say…" he stuttered, fiddling with his fingers.

If his hands weren't taken, one of them would have clutched his heart. This was so much.

Shuichi himself gulped. A wave of unknown chills went down his spine, unlike anything he had experienced before.

"I… I realized only a couple hours ago I loved you that way too, but… I didn't expect you to reciprocate it… and tell me about it so shortly after my realization…"

"Is this why you went to the bathroom earlier tonight?"

"Yeah…"

A small smile appeared on his face.

"I love you too, Kaede."

The blonde grinned like he had never seen her do so, eyes filling with happy tears, tears she wiped with her sleeve before her mascara could taint her face. Before he knew it, her hands were cupping his face and he was pulled into a kiss. The shock of surprise soon gave to him returning the favour, albeit he didn't really know how to kiss someone well, so he went for a simple one.

Once they had pulled out, their fingers intertwined as they looked at each other in the eyes. The scene had everything of a cliché: the moonlight, the lovers' lost and shiny glaze, the dumb butterflies he had in his stomach…

"Oi, ya finally made it bro!"

Upon hearing Kaito's voice, they both turned to the source of it, only to notice him and the others clapping. Even Kirumi was softly clapping her hands together, while everyone else had varying degrees of smiles, from Maki's small satisfied grin to Gonta's gigantic grin.

"Since when have you been here?!" Kaede asked in an embarrassed yell.

"Since you two were telling each other about platonic soulmates!" Tenko replied with her hands in thumbs up. "Treat her well, Shuichi!"

He couldn't help but giggle at that.

"I'll do."

Kaede leaned into his ear, to whisper something he didn't know he needed until she acted upon it:

"We'll take care of it together. But for now, let's go back with the others and have some fun, okay?"

He whispered back.

"Sure thing."


	9. I'd Go Everywhere With You

Shuichi looked at his desk. It was covered in papers, bills, bank account information, more bills, wills… As he expected, his parents hadn't really written a will: they had just said they wanted Mrs Saihara's brother and their son to split what would be left behind. It was clearly unfinished: his father's handwriting stopped mid-word. He had to go through the list of what he inherited, since his uncle didn't take much for himself, aside from possessions clearly related to his childhood spent with his sister. In fact, Shuichi didn't want to disturb Uncle Shinichi's mourning: he was already going through a lot.

His parents had always owned a lot of stuff, as far as he knew. He had always suspected it was because they had inherited from his grandparents early, and he was right. The reason why there had been so much papers on his desk lately was because he had to list everything he then would have to organize and decide if he was selling it, giving it to his uncle or to his friends, giving it away to a charity or keep it for himself.

In fact, he had learnt of a lot of stuff he couldn't have even imagined his parents had. They had their main house – a house he barely remembered – but also secondary and tertiary houses here and there, mostly in Japan but also in Europe and in the United States. A lot of them were worth quite the sum of money: he decided to sell most of them, give one to his uncle in his favourite place in Japan and keep his original home along with a place in Europe. If his memory was right, Kaede had told him she had always wanted to visit France: it'd be easier if he just kept the place. He could rent it in the mean time anyway.

The bare sum they had left behind was enormous too. Once again, Uncle Shinichi hadn't taken a lot from it: just a few year worth cash of necessities and enough money to finally renovate his office. Shuichi himself had reserved a part of the money, a very little part considering the sheer amount he got on his hands all of a sudden, for the funeral because that would have eventually happened anyway.

He learnt a thing he thought was truly vile, when inspecting the inheritance: his parents had kept his existence secret from the public. He didn't exist in the eyes of most of the people who knew about his parents, as if he was an illegitimate child. In fact, the tabloids across the country were all speaking about how the Saiharas had left the world with their properties out in the wild.

On second thought, Shuichi was grateful for this. It meant nobody was going to go after him, asideSo from maybe a few pesky paparazzi who had nothing else to do with their time. He was a seemingly broke college student, which he had been until recently: they would never suspect him to rent a villa in France. Moreover, if he was truly threatened by the media, he felt like he could trust his friends with protecting him: Kaito, Gonta, Kirumi and, despite what she'd say, Maki were all willing to give him a physical helping hand in the matter.

He was left with something like a few billions on his hands (where they came from, he didn't know. He had never thought his parents had earned so much royalties and had won so many court trials), so he had to decide what to do with it. He put something like half of it on the side, locked in a bank account somewhere, just so he could grab from it if someone around him or even himself needed some urgent money.

Then, he listed what his friends needed that required huge sums of money. Kaito was working very hard as a cashier to pay his tuition for astronaut training because he didn't want his grandparents to pay. Maki wanted, deep inside, to help her orphanage which was about to close down due to lack of funds. Kirumi was that close to selling herself as a maid just so she could pay back her family's debts. Tenko wanted to open her own dojo to teach girls self-defence. Himiko wanted to launch her career as a magician and bring joy to people through her magic tricks. Gonta wanted to help endangered species of bugs. And Kaede wanted to play piano across the world as to raise awareness and make sick children in hospitals happy (he remembered her mentioning her volunteering in hospitals for that, between two recitals).

As such, Shuichi decided these projects were all legitimate. He anonymously gave each of his friends the sum of money through whatever means he had: eventually, he just did this through one of his parents' former agents. Speaking of agents, he decided to recommend them to other people, since he didn't need as much guard as his parents did. He truly hoped they would get a new job again. He also gave to each of them a year of salary, just so they could find a new job smoothly. They hadn't been fellow just for the death of their employers to throw them to the streets.

Seeing the wide smile of Kaito calling his grandparents to announce them the great news, Maki's moved smirk, Gonta's tears of joy, Kirumi swearing her eternal gratitude to an anonymous figure with a relieved expression, Tenko jumping in sheer happiness as she celebrated, the sparkles in Himiko's eyes and Kaede's lack of words at what she had just been given access too were all more than enough for him. That was truly the best he could have used his parents' fortune for.

As he was looking over debt papers again, he felt a hand tap his shoulder. Startled, he turned around quickly, one second facing his paper and the other facing a seemingly upset Kaede.

"K-Kaede?! When did you come in?!"

"Oh," she replied pouting, "not very long. Kaito told me you were busy with sorting the stuff from your parents' death and all."

"Ah, yeah, we had something planned today, right?" he remembered as he looked down, saddened. "I'm sorry, I have that urgent stuff to take care of… I'm sure Kaito won't mind spending some time with you, though, if you want…"

"I've come here to help you sort things out, but, tell me…"

Her eyes became much sterner, almost sinisterly so, out of the blue.

"You're the one that gave all of us all of that money, right?"

Shuichi gulped, his eyes going wild. He had sworn never to lie to her, especially since they were now more-or-less dating, but she seemed pretty angry about the entire ordeal.

"W-what makes you think that…?"

"It's a weird coincidence all of our friends except for you have gotten huge sums of money from some kind of anonymous figure! In fact, I'm completely certain this isn't a co

incidence!"

"You're right on that… I wanted to allow all of you to make a part of your dreams thanks to this money. I don't need that much of it… I have too much of it, actually."

"You still have money after all this?" Her own eyes went wide. "That's crazy!"

"Yeah, I'm barely believing my parents were that rich myself… They really were prestigious overseas, people would have given them millions just to spend an hour with them sometimes. I'm sure a part of it is shady money, but it's not really my issue, isn't it? I've just inherited it."

He sighed as he went through a particular stack of paper sheets in his hands.

"They sure had a lot of debts in Japan, though… I don't exactly know how much they owed to all these people, but I'll have to take care of these before I can decide what to do with all of the inheritance. What I have you all was a small part of it, but it really meant a lot to me to do it for you all."

Kaede picked one of the bills in her hand.

"I wonder why they never paid back. Your parents were super rich, it's not like they couldn't pay back, you know? It's weird, if you ask me."

"I'm not sure… They may have never gotten the time to do so. They were requested all over the world, after all. In any case, I'll have to pay these back in secret, since I don't want the exposure…"

"But," she argued as she showed him something on the bill in her hands with her finger, "this person doesn't live anywhere near us! In fact, he lives on the other side of the country! How are you going to get there?"

Now that was a good question he didn't really have an answer to.

"Huh… In train?" He was dumbfounded there.

She crossed her arms and shot him a look of almost-dejection.

"Oh, c'mon, that's the least practical way to do this… We could just have a small road trip or something instead!"

"A… road trip? Don't you have piano recitals?"

"They're all in other cities, so I'd have had to go out of town anyway," she replied with a confident smirk." The issue is on your side, though. You still have class at the moment, right?"

"Ah, yeah, right… But my break starts next week. I didn't want to skip class, so I just remained in school. It's not like it has affected me too much emotionally anyway…"

His hands rubbed his eyes, just as Kaede's glaze started weighing on him.

"You look exhausted, Shuichi… You've spent all your free time taking care of this all on your own, right?"

"Not entirely on my own… Kaito and Maki have helped me with some papers and Kirumi explained some of this stuff to me. I still have a lot to do though, taking care of the debts first and deciding what to do with the royalties and picture rights of them and…"

He felt his eyelids shut down on their own all of a sudden. She had broken his momentum: no doubt he was feeling his sleep deprivation full force.

"Shuichi…" Her voice had a hint of worried anger in it. "You need to take care of yourself! I know this an important and pressing matter, but we can all help you with it!"

Kaede winked at him, then grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him onto his bed. She sat down next to him, all the while he was laying there with a head so dazed he didn't hope to get up again for a while.

"Plus, we haven't spent a lot of time together yet, despite dating… It could be a way for us to do so."

"It's not very fun stuff to do, Kaede…" he attempted to correct her.

"I know that," she replied with strength. "Paperwork is never fun to do, for nobody. But, friends and lovers are meant to help each other out, right? I don't mind helping you with all of this, so we can be ready and go on a surprise road trip to take care of the debts in person if needed!"

"You… really want to do this?"

"Of course I do! It'd be a great way to combine my obligations, your obligation and spending time together!"

Honestly, he just wanted to cry in relief. He had felt terribly lonely again, after his parents' death and what ensued.

"I guess I won't refuse this helping hand… Especially if you propose it so… nicely…"

Shuichi felt himself fall asleep while her hand ran through his hair. If he wasn't wrong, Kaede may had left a peek on his cheek, because there was a fuzzy warmth in a concentrated spot all of a sudden there, but he wasn't sure.

"Get some rest, okay? We can discuss it all later."

They were walking out of some grandiose villa near the seashore, legs feeling like jelly. Shuichi had been so stressed out by the entire ordeal that he had gone breathless from anxiety. In fact, he had been so anxious he had come short to triggering an attack. Fortunately, a strong pillar was with him to give his strength: none less than his girlfriend, holding him when he needed to be held the most.

"He sure was a scary guy at first…" she whispered under her breath, looking at him with a relieved expression.

"Yeah…"

Kaede straitened up, taking a more solid-looking stance, hands on her hips.

"We're lucky most people have understood the issue and reduced your debts towards them! They could have been assholes about it, but they didn't make a fuss!"

"I'm surprise they were so easily willing to cancel the debts for some of them. I don't know how I feel about getting told they'd cancel it 'for a twenty-year old boy'…"

"To be fair, you got rolled into a big mess for your situation. Until then, you were under your parents' financial support and your uncle's protection, right? The situation has obviously changed that…"

He couldn't help but agree with her way of thinking. His current situation was a difficult transition between what felt like adolescence and adulthood: one day he was a young student with a side-job and distant parents, the next he was an orphan adult future teacher managing the ownings of people who were gone. The brutality of it all was what had disturbed him so much.

He got out of his bag the notebook where all the appointments he had scheduled related to the debts and ownings, along with Kaede's concerts, and read it to remind himself of what was to come… only to realize he was scratching the last event written down in the book.

"We're… finished?" he asked out loud, surprised by the realization.

"Yeah, today was the last visit we had to give! It only took us a week and a half to wrap all that debt stuff up. I say we deserve a nice afternoon to us and us only!"

Shuichi smiled softly at the idea.

"I'm tired of all these papers, I agree on spending time far away from them."

"Then, come with me!"

Kaede grabbed his hand in hers and started running to her car she had parked at the entrance of the mansion they were leaving. They ran through the grandiose gardens of the rich owner like teens on love adrenaline, as if the responsibilities they had shouldered for weeks were now gone, gone in a gust of wind, as they let go of their anxiety for a golden moment.

She had been right: they hadn't gotten much time as a couple yet, safe for spending nights in the same hotel room because it costed less, but even then, they were always too tired to do much together, and he had to focus on the matters at hand. They deserved to enjoy themselves for at least a few hours.

The couple got into the white car – despite being asked if she wanted to change it, and that they know had enough money to do so, Kaede had refused to change cars as she was attached to her custom pink seats – and drove off to the closest city, where they had their hotel room in. They didn't know where they were going, aside from getting something to eat. It was noon already, and standing up unless there was some paper to sign had truly made them hungry.

"Where do you want to eat?" Kaede asked during a red light. "We can grab anything these days… Even five-star lobster if we want."

"I'm not a fan of these fancy dinner places. What about we eat some ramen instead?"

"Works for me, I'm starving!"

Shuichi would have picked anything he liked anyway. Ramen was just the first thing he thought about because the guy they had previously seen was the luckily-for-them-in-his-secondary-house-in-Japan CEO of some kind of ramen cup noodle company he didn't know about before having to call him. The names of flavours and cup designs had burned into his retinas during boring speeches about "Mr and Mrs Saihara truly were respectable people, _but_ …" As if he had known these "Mr and Mrs Saihara".

On second thought, the more he thought about them, the less human they were: they were already ghosts and a smudged name in a notebook. It felt as if he was just taking care of a task he had been assigned to, after a while. Truly, he would have sworn most people saw mourning as a very delicate and painful experience: it had been for a couple days, and then his grief had only calmed down. It felt like mourning them was mourning a distant relative: it scared him to lose anyone else because he had realized anyone could die at any moment, but them in particular? He didn't really care that much.

And so they ate ramen in a cosy restaurant of this city, enjoying some filling yet not too-hard-to-eat food. They got laughs, shared some life stories and talked about the others they would see again once they got back to what now felt like home.

"Do you think Kaito got to do what he wanted to do with Maki while we were away?" Kaede asked as she slurped a noodle.

"I can't say for sure," Shuichi replied as he looked at the ceiling to find an answer, "but Kaito could have either been too concerned for me to do it, or just profit of the fact I was away with you to spend alone time with her. Maybe both."

"How could you be both at the same time?" she asked in an amused scoff.

"He could have hesitated for a while and, eventually, decide to do it since I was getting better during our 'road trip'."

Kaede's eyebrows twitched.

"Oh come on! It was totally a road trip, when we weren't busy with taking care of debts!"

"I guess it's better to see it that way than to see it like some kind of obligatory travel to take care of boring paperwork and stuff I still don't quite understand…"

"Plus the day to the amusement park was great!"

"Which one?" Shuichi questioned her. "The one still in activity or the abandoned one?"

"Well… Both were fun. I enjoyed myself more going on actually running rides, and we had a lovely time by the pond there, but exploring the abandoned park was pretty interesting too! Even if you were scared beyond anything I've seen from you yet, Shuichi."

"There were some weird sounds which made me think we were going to be caught by local authorities," he pathetically tried to justify himself, "but it turned out it was only another group of curious explorers. We were lucky there."

He looked away as he sipped on his filled spoon.

"I know it wasn't the best place ever to have a date in, but… It was close to where we went that day, and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to explore it."

"To be honest, it was super interesting! I've never been to an abandoned place before, and while it's eerie, it's fascinating. I had a fun time there, I hope we can explore more places like it together soon!"

"I think there's an abandoned plant museum on the road back if we just make a little detour. I'll have to check, but it has interested me for a while now."

"Oh, it reminds me of a place I went to when I was a kid! Speaking of abandoned places, do you know of any abandoned auditoriums or music-related places? I'd love to see these! The stories behind them are really interesting too, and the one of the abandoned park really made it even better."

"I don't think so, but I can always do my research and see if there's one we could explore someday. I'd be interested in visiting such a place too."

They took the road again after this, reminiscing of the time they had spent at a spa earlier in the week. Shuichi turned out to be right: hidden away from the road, yet not too far from it, was the abandoned plant museum-amusement park hybrid he had remembered seeing pictures of. Piecing together the story of the abandoned place ridden with wildlife and tall grass, he could say one thing for sure: it was even better in real life, in front of his very eyes.

Kaede and he wandered around for a bit, making sure not to hurt themselves. Itchy leaves were everywhere to attack them, but he was fully clothed and Kaede had made sure to protect her legs as soon as he had recognized the pathway there. They enjoyed reading worn out panels speaking about peculiar plants, seeing nature regain control over now broken glasshouses, admiring wild birds on the branches.

She had found, in the souvenir shop, a small music box. It was long since broken, its insides rotten by rain and moss starting to cover them, but she couldn't not admire the now vegetal ballet dancer on top of it. Had it been not covered in vegetal, it would have looked crudely out of place. This lead Shuichi to believe it wasn't originally there: it may had been lost by someone back when the park was opened, and recovered by a souvenir shop who never sold it.

Kaede remarked the shop seemed to have almost nothing left behind aside from his box and one or two lost items, like a random key and a small doll.

"You know, there's something weird about these items," she said as she picked up both the key and the toy.

The latter was in a surprisingly good condition: aside from the dirt under it, reduced by the grass it had fallen on, it had been protected by the spot it was in from the wind and the rain. The key had been less lucky, since it was rusting, but the keychain linked to it was in a pretty good condition too.

"What is it?" Shuichi asked back. "Their good condition can be explained. After all, that park has been closed for only five years, it's just that people went to destroy some stuff and never attacked the souvenir shop, or didn't notice these items in the first place."

"No, not that, but…"

He could see some kind of concern in her eyes as she stared at the pastel pink bunny plushie doll in her hands. From this short distance, he could notice it had a musically-shaped pin in its hair.

"This doll," she spoke in an eerily calm tone. "It's mine."

"Wait, what? That's close to impossible!" he reacted, mouth almost locked in agape. "It's probably a similar one."

"I specifically remember putting a treble pin on a bunny plushie I lost years ago, during a trip with my family… It's crazy to think I've been there before, and that I finally found Ichigo again…"

"I assume Ichigo is the plushie's name?"

"Yes…!" Kaede replied with a hint of emotion in her voice. I'm so happy to have found her again…"

She brushed some of the dirt out of the plushie's back before clutching it against her chest, clean face facing her body. Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

"I'll never lose you again…"

They spent the next moments in silence, as she tried to keep her emotions inside, before eventually crying of happiness. The vision of such joy on his soulmate's face could only move Shuichi himself, perhaps not on the verge of tears, but still moved. Once she was calmed down, Kaede faced him again, holding the bunny in her arms like a child.

"Ichigo is very important to me because she's the first plush I remember having. I was heartbroken when I lost her, because she just mattered so much to me… She was my grandma's last gift too before she passed away, my parents told me. I was always with her, so I'm very happy to be reunited with her once again…"

Kaede delicately put the plushie in her bag, making sure to make it comfortable in it, before rushing in her boyfriend's arms. He barely caught her, startled by the sudden gesture.

"I'm very happy you've found it again, then…" he told her as he felt a blush creeping on his cheeks.

"It's all thanks to you, Shuichi! Thank you so much!"

Little did she know he was smiling too.

"You're welcome… Let's go home now. With Ichigo."

She pulled away.

"With Ichigo, and you."


	10. Just the Eight of Us

Summer vacations were finally there and, with them, a nice time to spend with friends. Usually, Shuichi would have gone with his uncle and aunt to the countryside or, if he was a bit luckier, to an ancient town where he could maybe find an abandoned location to explore and an interesting library to browse books in. It was calm, relaxing and changing from his grey ordinary student life.

However, this year was different. Kaito had always pushed him to come with him in holidays ever since they had met in high school: at first, it was with his insanely generous grandparents who always wanted to get to know their grandson's best friend more; then it was with Gonta; then it was with Gonta and Maki once they had started dating.

Shuichi had figured he could at least afford it, considering his inheritance money suddenly dropping millions on his hands. It was only normal for him to use a part of this money to finance everyone's traveling expenses. That would allow Kirumi to come with them, as she was still running short on money because of the recently-dealt-with family debts that had weighted on her shoulders. They were originally seven to go: Kaito, Maki, Gonta, Kirumi, Himiko, Tenko and him. It seemed to be a lot of people to spend summer holidays with, yet something still felt incomplete.

Right, what would be an outing as friends without Kaede?

When the idea came to his mind, he was with Kaito at his grandparents' house. He had volunteered to help organize the trip with Kirumi: she was just busy somewhere else when it was. As to why they were at the grandparental house? He didn't really know himself, but Kaito had always said he organized stuff better if he was at the house he grew up with rather than their small flat.

Mr and Mrs Momota were very doting people. As long as he remembered, Shuichi had always felt like he was their other grandson anytime he came to visit Kaito, or went to his place after high school was over. They would go as far as buy him birthday presents and prepare some food for him for after classes, almost as if he was Kaito's actual brother and not just a friend. There was an atmosphere of nostalgy and sooth whenever he came to this place: if Kaito hadn't insisted on it, maybe he'd have proposed to go there himself.

They were in Kaito's old bedroom, his "headquarters" as he liked to call it, his taller friend a feet on the low-height table and his first shaking a pen in the air, when Shuichi whispered something that had come to his mind.

"You know, I've just thought of something…"

"What's it, bro?" Kaito asked curious. "Somethin' fun to do during our stellar holidays?"

"Not an activity per say, but… what if we invited Kaede too? I know we're already seven, so I'd understand if you didn't want to, and if the others didn't either, so…"

He interrupted himself when he had his best friend's face almost right in front of him, eyes glimmering with interest and mouth bent in glee. The face was, seconds later, already far from him yet again, this time displaying a wide grin.

"Ya really thought I'd refuse ya that?! C'mon bro, ya know I'm better than that!"

"H-huh…?"

"Ya noticed a pattern there? I'm goin' with Maki Roll, Gonta's goin' with Kirumi, and Tenko's comin' with Himiko. It'd be unfair to let ya be the only one without his girlfriend around, Shuichi!"

"You're right, but… I don't want to impose that on everyone, and I have yet to ask Kaede about that too…"

A familiar hand gave him a tough push.

"She's accepted already! Can't miss having ya soulmate with us!"

Shuichi realized this again on that day: he'd just never get over how accepting and immediate Kaito could be when the talking matter was pleasing him. At least, that made it strangely easy to convince him of helping out with some things.

Minutes later, Shuichi was in the garden with his phone as his sole company. Kaito had kicked him out of the headquarters in order to, as he put it, "contact their last guess to the party". If the wannabe detective was sure of something, it was that Kaede usually didn't check her texts often during such calm and peaceful afternoons. The only way to reach her reasonably fast without risking her not to be informed in time was to directly call her on her phone.

His heart was beating fast already when she took the call in. His anxiety was always playing up with his nerves whenever he was in front of a phone, but calling Kaede to ask her about some summer vacations with people she had only met a few months ago except for Kirumi? That was even more nerve-wracking.

" _Hello?"_ her voice came to his ears.

"Kaede? It's Shuichi. I hope I'm not bothering you or anything."

" _You'll never bother me by calling me, silly! What's on your mind?"_

"Well… I was helping Kaito organize our summer holidays together with friends and I thought that… it'd be nice if you came with us…"

His voice was cracking near the end of his sentence. He heard her gasp.

" _You're inviting me to spend the holidays with you and the others?! You're sure it's alright if I come?"_

"Kaito insisted on how that was only normal to invite you too…"

" _Consider me already in the car then! Thank you so much, Shuichi!"_

"W-well, huh… You should thank Kaito instead of me…"

"I mean it! You'll tell me the details later okay? Have a nice day, I'll call you tonight!"

"Have a nice day…"

As Shuichi put the call to an end, an inexorable smile made its way on his mouth. It was too good to be true: he was going on holidays with his best friends, was bringing his girlfriend along, and they were all going to have a lovely time on the beachside together. In fact, he was so happy about it going so well, he surprised himself staring at a tree in the garden for no apparent reason.

He shook his head and made his way upstairs yet again. As he did so, he crossed the way of Kaito was just getting out of the kitchen, a tray in his hands. They didn't need to speak to each other to know what was on the other's mind: Kaito knew Kaede had said yes, Shuichi knew his friend had prepared afternoon snacks for the both of them, judging by the presence of two glasses on the tray.

They were eight on the day of departure. Their destination was a calm, countryside shore, to a secondary house Shuichi's parents had owned before. It was crazy to think they were going to _Shuichi's_ when they had all associated the term "Shuichi's place" to a small flat he shared with Kaito. Alas, recent and tragic events had made it so he now had multiple "homes" to go to if needed: this villa was just one of them.

As they had organized the trip, Shuichi and Kaito were the first ones who had arrived. Kaito had rented a car with enough seats for all of them, plus extra storage place, even if he had made clear everyone needed to bring only what they strictly needed. They were up at four in the morning or so: Kaito had slept in early, Shuichi hadn't slept with raging anxiety in his veins. The former was looking fresh, the second one exactly how he was: dead tired.

Maki had joined them soon, making sure to park her motorcycle in a safe spot. She had brought with her about as much as Kaito and Shuichi themselves: a big bag with clothes and utilities, a backpack with handier and smaller items. As soon as she had arrived, her boyfriend had turned into a lovey-dovey man, hugging her from behind, to her protests but also to an endeared blushing. In the end, she was giving him a friendly tap on the shoulder, saying "stop doing that without warning, you idiot".

Gonta was next up to arrive. As expected of him, he had managed to fit everything in a suitcase. When he got asked about what a suitcase and not a bag, he answered the latter was more gentlemanly. This was nowhere as surprising as when the three others noticed he had somehow managed to squeeze a plastic tea set in there. He seemed sad about how it wasn't fine porcelain, but all of them were quite impressed about the fact he had even thought about it.

Tenko and Himiko arrived together around twenty minutes after Gonta. The former had the latter on her back, grinning widely as soon as she noticed Maki was already there. The smaller girl gave everyone else a thumbs-up. In Tenko's hands were her bags, Himiko's was on her back. When asked where her additional luggage was, she answered it was already in Tenko's bigger bag because her small-sized clothes fit in there too.

With an enthusiastic pace everyone else had troubles keeping up with, the taller girl had told them they had come together because her girlfriend had slept over at her house, a first since they had started dating, and it was a big milestone for her. While it was cheesier and cheesier the more he thought about it, Shuichi found it endearing as soon as he associated her story with Kaede and himself.

The last ones to arrive were Kirumi and Kaede, coming in the latter's car. It was immediately assumed they had spent the night together at Kaede's house as to arrive in time for the departure: they were right on time, and they would have enough of it left to put the last bags and cases in the car before leaving for the countryside in the early hours of reasonable morning.

Once the last "mornings" and "how are you" got exchanged, it was time to all climb inside the car and go on a wild adventure on the roads together. As such, they had established who could drive and who couldn't: Kaito, Kaede, Maki, Tenko and Kirumi all had their driver's licence; Himiko was on her way to get it; Gonta didn't really know anything about cars and Shuichi had forgotten he had to one day get his driver's licence. With the possible drivers established, the different turns to take for drivers were sorted out very quickly: Kaito would start, then Kirumi would take over, then Kaede, then Maki, then Tenko, and then back to Kaito, rinse and repeat.

The trip was very calm at first, despite how excited everyone was, because of how early they were starting the trip: five in the morning wasn't the time of the day where most people were already screaming at the top of their lungs how happy they were to go on vacation. In fact, only Kaito and Kirumi were awake by that time. The latter was carefully watching over the gentleman next to her, the former was focused on the road with classical music playing low, courtesy of Kirumi.

The first ones to wake up were Kaede and Gonta, an hour into the trip. According to Kaede, she was just missing a bit of sleep, before making remarks on how nice the radio music was. While Kaito wished he'd have his usual mixtape screaming in the speakers, he was refraining himself to do so as to let the others sleep peacefully: better listen to Kirumi's classical mixtape rather than have grumpy young adults on his hands.

Soon enough, however, everyone but Himiko was awake, right in time for the first stop of the eight-hour-long trip. From then on, they allowed themselves more and more music: from Kirumi's still slow-paced and soothing classics, they progressively reached Kaito's optimistic and upbeat playlists, reaching some kind of climax around noon and lunch time, as the sun was peaking in the sky, and as everyone including Himiko was clapping along to some song Kaito had found on the Internet.

Shuichi had been afraid at first about the trip: would the road be fine with everyone else? The first thing he had been worried about was the transportation: would they find a car big enough to fit all of them and their stuff? Thanks to a contact of Kaito (it was always Kaito's "I know a guy who knows a guy" nature that saved them anyway), they had found a monospace car who could fit up to nine people if needed.

Then, it was about if everyone was going to get along in a car. It turned out everyone was doing their best to make the trip there a pleasant time: he could notice Tenko was making an effort not to be too hyperactive and Himiko to be lenient about the constant background noise. They made breaks often to switch seats and drivers or simply breathe some fresher air and walk around. It was funnier than he had ever anticipated, to be honest.

He was right next to Kaede for most, if not all of the trip. He expected to look through the window of the car for the longest time, but instead, he was having fun playing little games with the others and discussing with them. Kaito seemed to be an endless well of small things to do in a car, but Tenko had her own interesting twists to bring to the table. They went from blind tests to brainstorming, to guessing games and sharing anecdotes with each other.

He discovered a number of things through this. Maki admitted to having a pet plant named Dennis, whom she had owned ever since she was in the orphanage. Kirumi had told them about the funniest workplace story she had in store for them: the one time someone thought she was an actual minister from the government, and wouldn't let go of the idea she would be a great Prime Minister. Tenko was enthusiastically sharing titbits about her friendship with Maki, unveiling where and when they had met: at a dojo, when they were children, because Tenko's parents wanted their child to better behave and because Maki wanted to learn self-defence very young. Himiko showed a couple small magic tricks she usually had to cut for time's sake during her shows, impressing Gonta beyond his mind. The latter explained and illustrated to everyone how to remove a bug safely from a car, as to have no casualties, when a bee accidentally entered the car after a break.

The trip was nearing its end around six in the afternoon. Everyone had seemingly fallen asleep or was in a pensive stance when Kaede was driving again, Shuichi in the passenger's seat. With her soft piano music playing in the speakers, they had a perfectly calm moment to talk together about whatever they wanted to tell the other about.

"Say, Shuichi," she opened the conversation. "What do you plan on doing after our holidays?"

"After the holidays? Huh… Probably investigate on more cases at my uncle's office and prepare next year. Nothing big. And you?"

"Oh, just the usual things too, since I don't officially have summer holidays anymore. Play some piano, volunteer in hospitals and orphanages, spend time with my friends. I'm playing at Maki's orphanage next month, I'm looking forward to it!"

Her eyes glimmered with joy as she looked at the road, sun reflecting in her pink-tinted sunglasses.

"Oh, I just remembered something! I've never asked you before, but what do you want to do after your studies are over, Shuichi?"

"Ah, huh…" He truly wasn't expecting that question. "I don't think I want to be a detective forever, that's for sure. I like helping Uncle Shinichi around, but that's it."

"You're in a Literature course, right? You want to be a writer? You now have the money to live off from your writing without having to work on the side."

"Not really either… I love reading, but I don't really like writing myself. I don't feel like I have a good-enough style to do so."

The second part of Kaede's reply was igniting a vague anger within him.

"I want to live with my own earnings, and keep the inheritance for urgent situations or if my friends need money as soon as possible. I want to be active. I…"

Kaede slightly turned her head towards him to shine him a small smile, then fully looked at the road again.

"If you have no idea what you want to do later, you should start by what you like the most! For example, I love music and playing the piano, so I wanted to be a musician or a composer later. I'm conscious it's a miracle I managed to become successful at such a young age, and that it could stop tomorrow, but I wanted to fully consecrate myself to my dream. I may regret stopping my studies so early later, but for now, I just enjoy life and what it's brought me!"

As inspiring as ever, huh. How was she not also famous for inspirational quotes yet?

"If I had to guess, you love literature, no?" she continued. "That's why you picked this course. What do you like aside from reading?"

"Hmm… I like explaining things, I suppose. I really enjoyed teaching Gonta about Latin this year for his biology classes. It's always satisfying to see someone come to a realization after you've carefully and patiently explained it to them. I really like making people understand what they couldn't understand previously."

He thought more about it.

"In fact, I wonder if my favourite aspect of solving cases isn't to explain how it was possible while providing the evidence. I feel good bringing justice too, but I enjoy explaining how a case unfolded more. There's something satisfying about hearing people say that they now get it. It's probably weird and confusing for you to get, but…"

"It's not!" Kaede chimed in with an optimistic voice. "I get that you love explaining things and telling stories to other people. When we explored that abandoned park, I was fascinated by how well you were telling me about the history of this place! It made it very interesting. I hope we'll explore another abandoned place like this where we're headed, it'll be amazing with you as our guide."

God, she was going to make him blush.

"I'm very happy to know my storytelling abilities are engaging…"

It then looked like she had gotten a sudden illumination, a shining realization, as her mouth gaped and as her eyes shimmered even more.

"I know! Shuichi, have you thought about becoming a teacher?"

"A teacher?" That was surprising to hear, but not too difficult to understand her thought process. "Now that you mention it, it may be something fitting me."

"I'm sure you'd be a great teacher, Shuichi! You're calm, patient, nice and you have great storytelling. Your students will love having you in classes. I always found my teachers to be boring because they couldn't make me feel engaged in what they were conveying, but you're amazing at telling us a story or explaining us something. You really should be giving this a chance!"

He smiled at her too.

"The way you phrase it, I can't not at least give it a shot."

Before he could continue talking to her calmly, they heard a familiar voice scream inside the car.

"We're here guys! We've arrived!"

Kaito was yelling enthusiastically, soon joined in by Tenko. Kirumi and Gonta more passively expressed their joy about reaching their destination. Himiko was waking up again barely realizing what was happening, as Maki simply commented Kaito to shut it off.

The road continued for a couple more minutes as they entered the complete countryside: bad phone reception meaning little-to-no Internet until they would reach the villa, bugs singing along to the wind's calm humming, the sea scent filling their noses, a natural feeling of serenity and calm aside from them and their discussions.

After the car had climbed some more little and narrow roads, they could all see a house whose appearance was closer to a hotel than to a mere house in the horizon: there was no doubt it was one of the villas Shuichi had inherited from his parents, standing tall above the rest of the landscape. It hadn't been actually inhabited for a while, but he knew people had been hired to take care of it in the name of his parents and, since recently, in his name proper. However, he had never seen it: he'd discover at the same time as everyone else.

This was it. This was the beginning of his summer holidays with his best friends, including his brotherly roommate and his girlfriend. They were all together near the sea, in the calm countryside, where the only people they'd truly see for two weeks were each other. For the first time in his life, Shuichi was sure of one thing: he was happy about jumping head first into the unknown.


	11. Koi no Kakera

Their excitement had reached its climax when they were finally facing the villa. The sound of waves breaking against the shore's rocks was completely muted by Kaito and Tenko's enthusiastic yelling. The villa was gigantic: from the ground floor with its three-meter-tall entrance door to what looked like the sixth floor, it was towering over all of them. Its white façade was dominating all of them, judging them all with its giant windows.

"I didn't know you had such a big house, Shuichi!" Gonta excitedly told him as his gaze was fixated on the, for once, tall-enough door for him.

"Well… Me neither, to be honest…" he replied, gulping. So that was what his parents' fortune actually looked like…

"What are we waiting for?!" Kaito barged into the small conversation with a grin eating away his face. "Let's take a look it!"

"I agree with the degenerate! Let's get inside!" Tenko chimed in with her own comment.

Kirumi looked almost offended by such a display of impatience and lack of proper mannerisms, but didn't comment on it. Instead, she spoke in their favour.

"I share Tenko and Kaito's curiosity. Do you mind letting us enter, Shuichi?"

"O-of course not," he reacted as he spun around in surprise, startled. "Let's take a look, everyone."

He went to the house's gate, getting out the key he had recovered and using it to unlock the door, uncovering something of a grandeur he had never thought he would ever own. His eyes were welcomed with a slick white and light grey aesthetic, windows two time his height and silky curtains next to them. He had never seen something like that until he had to fix his parents' debts: this luxury was, now, somehow his.

The others ran up to him, commenting on how pretty the place was, how huge it was, asking how in the hell Shuichi somehow owned it… Soon enough, he was the last one outside the house, everyone else having entered, even if Kaede was waiting for him before delving too deep into the place.

"Shuichi," she told him as she gave him a hand, "what about we investigate this unknown place together? Unless you know about it already, in which case I'll eagerly visit it with Kirumi and Gonta!"

"Oh, that'd be nice," he replied. "I don't know the house myself. It's the first time I even see it."

He took her hand, gently intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Let's do that then! What direction do we take? There's two corridors and a staircase… Wait, no, that's an elevator!"

"How about we go to the right? I think the living room is that way. Well, at least one of them."

They explored the ground floor, walking around while commenting on diverse things, holding hands throughout the entire visit. The corridors were spacious and always somewhat decorated with photos of places the Saiharas had visited, of relatives such as Uncle Shinichi and Aunt Naoto, people he didn't recognize, of famous people Kaede could recognize and judge the work of, beaches he had never gone to and movie sets she wished she could have gone to.

They discovered a spacious living room that could contain everyone without a single problem, souvenirs of various locations across the world, from Japan to the United States without forgetting Europe and Australia, giving the place a worldwide vibe nobody had expected. There was an equally impressive kitchen waiting for them, a movie room (which looked too recent to have been for his parents: he was sure they hadn't been in this house for at least five years). As soon Kaede spotted what looked like a music room, she clutched his hand harder as they quickened their pace to the room.

In one of these corridors, there were only family pictures and portraits who were ringing something uncomfortable inside of Shuichi. They were old photos: Uncle Shinichi's hair hadn't greyed out, on some pictures he didn't even have his wedding ring, and there were some celebrities that had died years ago shown on these walls. The more they were advancing through this corridor, the worst the feeling was getting: the pictures were older and older. His parents, of which he could still barely remember the faces, were losing years for each set number of footsteps they were taking. He stopped when they were in front of the music room, looking at the picture at the end of the corridor.

Kaede's voice was softly calling for him, but he just stared at the photograph. On it, there were his father enlacing his wife in his arms, looking at the camera smiling, and his mother giving an endearing look what was inside her own arms, or rather, who. He didn't need to get a closer look at the picture to know the third person on this picture was himself when he was just a few days old. He quickly found out what was disturbing him so greatly about this picture: it was the first time he saw himself on these walls.

"Are these people your parents, Shuichi?" Kaede asked as she looked at the picture herself.

"Yes, they are… I've never seen them face-to-face a lot, but I know they are because I've seen them in magazines and at my uncle's house. That picture is almost twenty-year-old, though…"

As opposed to him, she was smiling, almost amused.

"And I guess the baby she's holding there is you, right?"

"That's me, yeah, when I was just born. I've never seen this photo before, unlike most of the others we've seen in the other corridors. Even my uncle doesn't have a copy of this one."

"What's so weird with it?" she asked again, looking at the picture with a now pensive expression. "It's a perfectly normal picture for new parents to take! My parents have one with my sister and me!"

"It's not that, it's that… it's the first picture of myself I see in this place."

She seemed to understand where he was going with this train of thought.

"Oh, you're right. We've only seen your parents, famous people, and who I guess are some relatives of your parents."

"We've mostly seen pictures of them and of my uncle, who is my mother's twin brother. To be honest, I actually didn't expect to see any picture of myself in this place."

"Why so? I know they weren't there for you physically, but they still trusted you to take care of their belongings after their death and usually supported you financially. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're completely right, but this isn't what makes me so uneasy," he replied in a voice dropping in tone and volume. "You see, Kaede, this house was usually rented to rich people wanting to spend their vacations far from the busy city life and paparazzi. These people would admire the decoration of this place: it's filled with pretty photos taken by professional photographs, of expensive souvenirs and art pieces. What bothers me is that, even if so many people spent days there in the tranquillity of an isolated place, they put a picture of me in such a central place."

"How is that any strange? Celebrities love to brag about their children, don't they?"

Shuichi gulped. He could have sworn he had explained that to her, but it seemed that wasn't correct information.

"Well… They usually do, but my parents kept me hidden from the public eye. If I'm not wrong, back when I was born, the people were speculating on whether my mother was expecting or not. She faked having a miscarriage in the end, using this as an excuse to go on hiatus and come back to the city where I was born in the end. I've been told she had left soon afterwards, leaving me in the care of whoever agreed to take care of me, until my uncle decided it was enough and took me in. I'm just confused as to why they decided to keep this picture there."

"You're overthinking again, Shuichi."

Startled by her sudden and sharp reply, his head finally turned to face her, discovering she had been smiling the entire time.

"It's just a photo, Shuichi," she told him before her head went back to the picture on the wall. "Your parents must have liked how good it looked. From the looks of it and if you ignored they actually had a son, you could think it would be their nephew or niece, or even a child they are the godparents of."

Her eyes came back to face him.

"You're not going to overthink it, right? It's your vacations, don't spoil them with thinking about this! I know you're still mourning, but I'm sure they wouldn't want you to cry again over it. Let's go upstairs, okay? I'm sure there's a lot more rooms for us to discover."

She took both of his hands in hers. He could only follow her: she let go of one of his hands as they made their way to the staircase and to the first floor.

They met up in the late afternoon downstairs, in the living room, under Kaito's commands. He had his hands on the table, taking a stereotypical leader pose, as everyone else was sitting to listen. Tenko had twitching hands, trying to prevent herself from getting up. Everyone else seemed curious as to what their self-proclaimed leader was about to tell them.

"Okay guys! Thank you for coming to our meeting to plan our stellar holidays together! We need to determine what to do for the next days!" he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why do we even have to…?" Himiko replied. "It's kinda tiresome… I thought we were supposed to have a nice time, not plan stuff…"

"Himiko's right!" Tenko chimed in. "We're supposed to be taking it easy, degenerate!"

"Thanks for defending me…" Himiko reacted, smiling at her girlfriend.

Someone had to calm them down already, no? Shuichi wished he didn't have to, but…

"Everyone," Kirumi got up, everyone suddenly focused on her. "Kaito wants us to plan our next days because we have a lot of possibilities to do. We need to keep ourselves organized as so we minimize transportation and risks."

"I see where you're coming from," Maki replied. "If we need to travel somewhere, it'd be better to do one trip for everyone rather than countless ones."

"Yeah, that's the plan! Let's organize stuff together guys!" Kaito spoke up again, before everyone focused on the discussion at stake.

Gonta expressed an enthusiastic interest in exploring the nearby meadow, excited about the bugs living in the region, in the tall grass and near the seashore. Kaito wanted to climb the nearby peaks to have the nicest view, Tenko wanted to go swim in the sea, Himiko showed interest in the legends surrounding an abandoned temple nearby… In fact, only Shuichi and Maki didn't show they wanted to go anywhere in particular. Kirumi herself was interested by the nearby paths to walk on.

The discussion didn't turn to chaos thanks to Kirumi's calm and everyone's will to make everything go smoothly, allowing them to have a clearer cut of what they wanted to do. Each day would be consecrated to something: beach day, hiking day, exploration day… The planning was causing no conflict, to Shuichi's relieved joy. Everything would be just right.

Everybody disbanded shortly after that, leaving the living room for the floors and determining who was going to sleep where. The large number of bedrooms allowed them to occupy a room each with ease, yet still have much enough space to be comfortable in it. They had settled for this plan, just because if they wanted to share a room with someone else they could always invite the other to stay a night or maybe seven in there.

However, that left a critical question to reply to: they had yet to determine the exact rooms anyone was assigned to. They had nine bedrooms in total, leaving one completely unoccupied, on three of the five above-ground floors. Most of them were similar: warm pastel walls, carpet on the floor, individual bathrooms, closets and a TV.

Some of them had found a room instantly: Tenko and Himiko had settled on the third floor in rooms very close of each other, Kaito for a room with a balcony on the fifth floor, Maki simply following him in his decision, while Gonta and Kirumi settled for the fourth floor and to be near each other. Kaito had in fact pushed them to get a room near the other, since neither of them dared asking the other if they could do so.

There were three rooms left, two on the fourth floor and one on the fifth. Kaede and Shuichi agreed on something: they wanted the two rooms on the same floor, just so they could talk to each other easily at night. This seemed pretty simple and made sense to all of them, until they went to the second room after Kaede had settled for the light pink bedroom of the floor.

There was one bedroom that was unlike all the others, because it was never rented. It had never been, ever since it had become the Saiharas' property. The question was why: there was nobody in this place anymore, since the service people working there had insisted to let the "young ones enjoy themselves without them around", and nobody had even told him about this strange room.

Even if he had his hand on the doorknob, Shuichi didn't know if he really should open the door. It felt like he was about to trespass onto something sacred: as much as he was used to it in urban exploration, it didn't feel the same way as the time Kaede and he had visited this abandoned park. It felt like trespassing into something still inhabited, breathing, living. He shuddered at the thought of it, but in the end, took a deep breath and finally decided himself to open this door.

The room was crushingly different from all the others they had seen yet. It was extensively decorated, from the custom-looking paintjob on the walls to the expensive lights all around the room. There was a painting depicting a young couple in front of a monument on top of the king-sized bed, giving this uncomfortably personal vibe to the entire atmosphere.

Kaede entered the room, complimenting on the silky sheets, yet not forgetting to comment on the weirdness of this room compared to all of the others they had seen: it felt out of place to have such a richly decorated place in the middle of impersonal ones. Her eyes got fixated on what seemed to be a piece of furniture hidden behind a closet.

"Shuichi," she called out to him, "come look at this!"

The intimidated boy gulped and made his way into the room, already praying for his sins to be forgiven. He went alongside Kaede, who had her finger pointed at something.

"Look! We've not seen something like this at all until now here!"

His eyes glanced at it, before he stopped completely still. The item Kaede was pointing out with so much curiosity was a crib.

"What is it doing here?" she wondered out loud, trying to guess the whys and the how on her own.

But he already knew the answers to these questions.

"Kaede?"

"Yes?"

"I believe this was my parents' room. That would explain how personal it is and why nobody would rent it."

There was a terrible chill going down his spine at every second. His head was spinning.

"Shuichi? You're okay?"

"I'm sorry Kaede," he replied as he put his head in one of his hands, "I can't stay in that room much longer. I… I'll just take the room on the fifth floor…"

Before she could reply, or before he could hear her reply, he got out of the room and made his way to the lift.

His pace was slow enough for her to catch up back to him, grabbing his wrist.

"Shuichi, tell me what's wrong! You need to communicate with me when something makes you feel so badly!"

He stopped in his track again, barely able to face her.

"It's hard to explain…" he replied with a raspy, almost broken voice. "But I feel very uneasy in this room. It's dizzying for me to stay here. I'm sorry, Kaede, I know you really wanted us to have rooms on the same floor, but it won't be possible for me."

His eyes looked at the floor, his head lowering. A hand landed on his chin, lifting his head, making his eyes met her eyes directly.

"Don't be sorry for this! You're uncomfortable, so nobody should force you to sleep there! What about we sleep in the same room, then?"

This time around, Shuichi felt his face starting to heat up dangerously.

"W-well… There's only one bed, and… I…"

It was just kind of overwhelming to think about sharing a bed with her so early on, but he didn't want to reject that. She looked so happy at the prospect of it and he wanted to spend time with her as much as possible, so… He had to say something!

"I don't mind…"

Her arms squeezed him against her chest.

"Perfect! Let's get your stuff into our room then!"

Before he could add anything, Kaede had already taken his bag and was on her way to carry it to her… no, _their_ room. Even as he protested, she was brushing these off, saying she would have an easier time carrying it than him. When he was about to respond again, perhaps acknowledging his lack of muscles compared to everyone else that had come to their vacations, she glanced behind her, stopped and faced him fully.

"You're the one who brought me here, Shuichi! I'm just paying you back, in sorts. Let me take care of that, okay? You can join the others back in the living room! I'll be there in not too long, I promise."

Even if he wasn't feeling as relaxed as he would have wanted to be, Shuichi nodded and made his way downstairs, leaving her with his stuff to take care of. He could trust Kaede with being careful about it. He could trust her with anything, right? That was what such a relationship was about: trust.

As he went down the stairs, he heard more and more ruckus. He could distinguish Kaito's loud and low voice easily, before telling he was probably bickering with Tenko, considering her voice also spiked in the midst of the cacophony. The other voices were much quieter: it was Maki telling Kaito to "knock it off", Kirumi begging everyone to calm down, Gonta doing a similar thing.

When he finally reached his friends around the living room's table, Kaito and Tenko both stared at him and asked the same question at the same exact moment:

"Shuichi, what should we do tonight?!"

The boy remained startled, questioning what they could have possibly be throwing around all that time if it was to ask such a simple question, until Kirumi spoke up, almost as a saviour.

"Allow me to explain the situation, Shuichi. Kaito and Tenko have debated what we should spend our evening in since Kaede and you went to pick your rooms. Kaito wants us to have a movie night, while Tenko wants us to go on a night-time trek. As such, we are asking you what we should pick."

"Fighting is tiring… Please pick quickly, Shuichi…" Himiko's voice almost completed Kirumi's.

He had to at least attempt a reply to calm the situation down.

"W-well…" he stuttered. "I don't really know, both sound nice, but… I think we're too tired for the night trek for tonight…"

Tenko's piercing glare made him stop on that train of thought.

"Movie night sounds like something we could do tonight, but… I think finding a movie that everyone wants to watch will be complicated…"

Kaito's judging glare made him stop in that second train of thought.

Shuichi felt like the situation was going to dissolve into a feud, until another female voice spoke up from behind him.

"Everyone! Instead of fighting, what about we do a game night? I agree with Shuichi that we may be a bit too tired for the night trek tonight, and a movie night sounds like something we can do later on. We could play little games together, so the ones that are tired can go to sleep when they want to, and the ones who want to stay awake can continue playing!"

He let out a big sigh of relief when Kaede showed up, interrupting the feud.

"Hey," Tenko immediately replied, "that sounds good too Kaede!"

"That's a stellar idea, Kaede!" Kaito added, ending the feud. "Guys, what do you think!"

Everyone gave their own words and nods of agreement, even Himiko and Kirumi. He would have never thought the latter was someone to play games, but it seemed like she was on board with at least trying to participate in them.

Kaede came right on his side.

"Thank you so much," he whispered to her. "I didn't know what to say."

"You're welcome. I just want us all to spend a great evening together. Fighting over what do to wasn't sounding that great in my opinion."

He chuckled, amused.

"You're right. Let's join them all."

As the last couple joined the table, everyone started discussing what games they would play in the evening.


End file.
